Clandestine
by swonder
Summary: After disappearing from the eye of the public for years, the Avatar finds herself incognito in the Underground Fighting Pits, unbeknownst to the Republic City leaders and the enemies lurking around. AU. Makorra. Triad!Mako.
1. Clandestine

Welcome to my new Legend of Korra story, inspired by Toph's "Blind Bandit" storyline. Avatar Korra and Triad Member!Mako. Without further ado, enjoy.

 **Summary:** After disappearing from the eye of the public for years, the Avatar finds herself incognito in the Underground Fighting Pits, unbeknownst to the Republic City leaders and the enemies lurking around. AU. Makorra.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything from the World of Avatar.

 **Rating: T** will possible include curse words, non graphic violent and sex scenes.

* * *

 _ **Clandestine**_

adj. Kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit.

* * *

 _AVATAR BACK IN REPUBLIC CITY?_

A deep scowl displayed on his fair complexion after reading the headline on the newspaper. He re-read the article a few more times, trying to pick up on the pointless information that these reporters seemed to call 'Breaking News'. There was nothing he could find even remotely useful in the passage. It was all suppositions, speculations, theories and whatnot. Nothing he actually care about.

Why would he care about a girl, now woman, who had disappeared years ago without leaving a trace? Granted, she was not just any woman. _So what?_ He thought annoyed. She had never done anything for him, and he doubted an immature, half-baked Avatar could have done much for the city anyway. Everyone else seemed to be losing their minds over the whereabouts of the deity. Obviously, there were mixed feelings when it came to her. She was loved by millions, but also, not even disliked, _despised_ by many.

The Triads in the United Republic were definitely not fans.

Her head had a price on every gang he could possibly think of, no wonder the girl vanished into thin air. Everyone in her shoes would have done the same. But then again, she was not just anyone. No one had expected the hot-headed, impulsive girl, who had challenged Amon to a duel, to just… leave. No justifications nor warnings. Puff.

And the whole city had such high expectations of her, criminals included. The Firebender could not pinpoint the reason why. It perplexed him. She was not the first Avatar and most likely not the last one either. People needed to stop acting as if the world revolved around her. _The world didn't need her one bit_. She had allegedly stopped a revolution, according to the words on the numerous newspapers. That was impressive, yes. But the tabloids were full of words like _heroic_ and _fearless_ and of the like. Spirits, it's not like she had done it by herself. Was that at all necessary? As if the girl could get any more arrogant than she already seemed.

Avatar Aang had ended the Hundred Year War when he was only 12 years old. He mastered the elements in a year and defeated the Fire Lord respectively. Furthermore, the kid had suffered, losing his entire culture in an incredibly violent way that no boy of that age could ever process. And for reasons he would most likely fail to comprehend. Now, that deserved the admiration it had rightfully earned. It did not matter how many years passed, his story would live on forever, to inspire and guide the new generations.

The current Avatar, however, _Korra_ , he recalled her name vaguely, inspired nothing within him. What could she ever know about agony, when her whole life she was pampered and taken care of by the Order of the White Lotus? She understood nothing about the hardships of life. She would never understand what it was like to wake up and have no food nor shelter, to freeze during cold winters due to the lack of warm clothing, to have the people she loved snatched away from her. She was inexperienced when it came to the streets, to what real pain was. She was the Avatar, after all, why wouldn't she be? Surrounded by glorified bodyguards as a child and probably still.

Coward.

The main door of his modestly sized apartment flung open, revealing a masculine silhouette with green eyes. The man moved towards the couch in the living room, not too far away from his brother, letting his body weight sink against the cushions.

Releasing a content sigh, the younger brother laced his fingers behind his head to support himself.

"Bo," addressed the Firebender with a raised eyebrow due to the other's excessive relaxation. Even if his brother was rarely ever in a bad mood, the cheerful smile on his face and the slightly creepy look he was giving him was making Mako uneasy to no end, "Is there something on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing," he dismissed quickly with a wave of his hand, the grin never leaving his mouth.

His brows furrowed ever so slightly, "Alright."

The Earthbender ignored his brother's indifference by asking excitedly, "Have you heard the news?"

"What news?" he answered, flipping the pages of the newspaper in his hands, his attention lingering on the Sports Section focused on Pro-Bending.

"You're joking, right?" standing up from his comfortable position, the emerald-eye man ran to his brother, abruptly taking the paper from him. "This!" he exclaimed, the eagerness in his voice almost tangible.

He pointed a specific headline, which Mako had been reading before the younger man had barged in. The picture on the article was not clear enough for anyone to make out the person in it, but the interesting part of it was the amount of Republic City police officers, who seemed to be surrounding something, or better yet, _someone_.

"It seems like she's finally back," the Earthbender concluded, locking eyes with his brother expectantly, awaiting his answer.

With a shrug of his shoulders, the older man said, "It could be anyone. Why do you care so much anyways?"

"Everyone back in the headquarters is talking about it. The other Triads are going crazy over it too, apparently," Bolin said, shifting his gaze to the ground sheepishly. The Firebender knew the reason behind his excitement though. His baby brother had always been the kind of person to believe the best in everyone. He was a child at heart; despite being 21 years old, his eyes still brightened when he spoke of his heroes. Names such as Toph Beifong, Zuko, and Katara ignited a sparkle in him. And honestly, it was adorable. But the fact that his brother had so much hope in this _Korra_ was beyond him. As members of the Triple Threat Triad, any kind of affection towards this person would be severely punished.

But he still did not have the heart to break his little bubble, in which he thought the Avatar was the answer to all evils in this world. As if.

The green-eyed man chuckled under his breath, "Stop brooding so much, Jeez," he nagged the other, "Anyhow, are you ready to make some money tonight?"

His black eyebrows shot up, intrigued, "How?"

"The Fighting Pits, of course!"

"I'm not interested."

The Earthbender pouted, tugging at his brother's jacket, "Come on, Mako!" his voice reaching an annoying volume of whining, "The bets will be so high tonight!"

He sighed in defeat, as if he could ever refuse anything Bolin asked.

"Besides, I've heard there are some very interesting fighters this year."

* * *

The arena was completely full. A needle would not have been able to fit in the underground pits. Hundreds of bodies moving around, trying to find seats were they could best watch the fights during the night. He could hear some people complaining, saying that they wanted to be able to distinguish the sound of bones breaking.

Although he wanted to be indifferent about it, he could not help but feel the excitement of the arena creep up his veins, taking him back to his short career as a pro-bender. There was something about the field that made everyone turn a little more savage. The air itself was dense, weighted by the anxiety of the crowd. The ring reminded him of the Pro-Bending arena, it seemed to be suspended in the air, but it was completely made out of earth, no metal whatsoever. Water surrounded the terrain for the Waterbenders to use, he noted. The only difference between this and the Pro-bending arena was the cage that covered it, forming a dome of some sort.

He grew slightly worried, and even though he would not admit it, he was excited too. The cage was there in order to protect the audience from harm, meaning things would get aggressive. Interesting.

"Are there any rules?" he wondered out loud, his brother sipping from his drink next to him turned to face him.

"Yep," answered the emerald-eyed man, his lips popping the letter at the end, "Remember the rules in Pro-Bending?" the other replied with a nod, "Well, this is exactly the opposite. In fact, if there is no blood, they will probably get kicked out."

 _Damn_ , he thought. He would have been lying if he said that he was not extremely curious about who the participants would be. Since there were no rules, he pondered what kind of bold people would dare to enter that ring. Women and men were both allowed in combat, regardless of size, age and social status, he had been informed. It was an _illegal_ fighting pit for a reason, located deep in the city undergrounds, where no police would ever end up out of nowhere.

On one of the best seats of the house, the closest possible to the ring, sat Lightning Bolt Zolt with members of the Triple Thread Triad around him. Now that Mako paid attention more closely, he realized that the pit was crowded with gang members. Red Moonsons, Agni Kais, Terras, and of course, the already mentioned. The only place the foes would ever come together in peace would be here, to watch others beat each other grotesquely to the point of mutilation.

The leader of the Triple Threads leaned his head down in acknowledgement, which Mako immediately after returned with a similar bow. He was not high up in the gang food chain, nevertheless, he was an esteemed member since he joined at a very young age, Zolt himself taking him under his tutelage, as he was a Firebender as well.

"It's starting!" his brother chanted eagerly next to him.

In the middle of the arena, appeared the ring announcer, holding a microphone in his hands, "Introducing–" his hand signaled to one end of the field, with the dome hovering above them, waiting to trap the fighters in, "In this corner, from the Earth Kingdom, Gaoling, three times winner of the Earth Rumble Tournament–"

A massive man jumped in, the ground splitting below him as his hands smashed against it. His lower arms were covered by olive bindings, and while he remained shirtless, showing his defined pectorals, he wore traditional earthbending bottoms. His calves were also bound with green, his black haired tied on a bun.

" _The Boulder!"_

The stadium exploded with roars, cheering the known underground fighter. Bolin not too far behind. His brother, on the other hand, stared at the mountain made man with interest.

The ring announcer flipped his wrist to the other side of the not yet covered dome, "And on this corner, from Ba Sing Se, one of the rookies of this year, also known as–"

Part of the audience died in silence when the opponent appeared in the ring, kicking the ground, which caused the Boulder to stumble slightly, but noticeably. It was a girl, not much younger than the Firebender. Her short, chocolate curls barely reached her shoulder, and she was dressed in dark green pants and a light green top. Around her waist, an olive colored belt was tied. Her arms were, too, covered in bindings. In theory, she looked like the typical Earthbender.

But those eyes...

Even from the distance, the turquoise was only accentuated by the spotlights. Mako had been captivated, if not bewitched, by the shade of blue. She was indeed a beauty.

But she looked tiny compared to the other fighter. In spite of her muscular figure, it was nothing compared to her adversary. However, size did not mean strength. And he could tell that speed would come in handy for the girl.

" _Knockout!"_

His eyebrows quirked up at the word and hoped he got to see why she was awarded with that nickname. People cheered for her, but there were others who laughed mockingly. He did not blame them though, because anyone would have by taking in the sight in the middle of the arena. The Boulder versus some rooky girl.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young girl," he said in distress, referring to himself in third person.

The short-haired woman chuckled arrogantly, "You better not feel conflicted about calling an ambulance after I'm done with you." The public gasped at her audacity, throwing their fists in the air and shouting for the apparently strong girl.

Mako laughed as well.

As the dome began to lower, and the fighters took their stances, a man wearing a uniform neared the brothers' row.

"Bets?" he asked, holding a notepad in his hands.

While the rest of the row handed countless amounts of money for the boulder, including his brother, the Firebender pointed at the girl that had caught his eye.

" _Her."_

* * *

 **A/N:** This was mostly an experiment. I definitely want to continue with this one, that being said, I hope there is some feedback. A few notes:

1\. This would be Post Book 1, but the exact timeline will be explained later on. However, Korra never met Mako and Bolin. The brothers are still with the Triads.

2\. I am planning on using characters such as The Boulder from ATLA.

Let me know what you thought of this, and if you believe I should continue or not. Reviews are always appreciated.

 **Thank you for reading.**


	2. Knockout

_**Knockout**_

n. In boxing, the act of hitting the other fighter so that they fall to the ground and are unable to get up again within ten seconds **.**

* * *

"Care to explain what this is?"

A compendium of papers was thrown in her direction, sliding from one side of the table to the other. She was leaning on the chair, arms crossed against her chest, as her eyes fell on the daily headlines.

 _AVATAR BACK IN REPUBLIC CITY?_

Her vision shifted a few inches up to find the harsh gaze of the esteemed Chief of Police. A small part of her felt the urge to laugh at the seriousness of the situation, but the bigger part did not want to leave the Earthbender's office handcuffed. On the other hand, that did not mean she needed to be as stern as the authority questioning her.

"That is a newspaper," answered the Avatar smugly, returning the printed publication with a flip of her hand.

With a threatening look, she barked "Don't play smartass with me."

"Sorry," said the brunette with a sheepish grin.

"This is serious business, Korra," Beifong countered as she pointed at the picture on the front page, "How could you be so reckless?"

"Well–"

"That was a rhetorical question," the older woman pinched the bridge of her nose, "Walk me through it."

And so she did. Starting with the incidents that had very soon ended in a very public display of bending. It had been in the middle of the afternoon, only making it worse, considering the fact that it was bright and sunny for everyone to see. The Avatar had been on her way to Air Temple Island, something she usually would not have been allowed to do, giving the circumstances. But it was Ikki's birthday at the time and she figured that some rules could be bent just as easily if she was careful enough.

Although in her mind, all rules could be slightly broken as long as she was not caught. After all, if there was no one to witness the tiny wrongdoing, did it actually happen at all?

She had traveled swiftly down the streets, trying to keep her head low and profile even lower. _Don't make extended eye contact with civilians,_ Lin had suggested upon her arrival, arguing that it was better not to give anyone the opportunity to recognize her. And in her defense, most of the time she had indeed avoided others.

But that day, a Triad member had been abusing some shop owner and her first instinct was to aid the seemingly helpless woman. She was the Avatar and it was in her nature to want to help. At least that was her excuse.

Another possible explanation could have been the fact that she was utterly and undeniably bored. Bending was a part of her. No, scratch that. Bending was _who_ she was. To deny that need to bend the elements was to deny herself her own identity.

So yes, she had _accidentally_ bent. And yes, it had been firebending.

Thankfully, she had been removed from the scene by one of her guards and the gangster had run away. But people had seen her. Not that it really mattered, since she was not wearing any distinctive cultural clothing, such as the shades of blue and pelts she wore as a teenager. To an outsider, she was just a normal Firebender.

But of course the White Lotus sentries had been watching her every move and had decided to step in before she did something stupid. Scratch that again. Something _more_ stupid. Immediately after, she was escorted back to her place due to her lack of restraint and inappropriate behavior.

"This is not your time to play the hero," scolded the green-eyed official after the Avatar was done with her story, "You cannot be seen bending _any_ element, period."

As much as she wanted to disagree, she knew the Chief was right.

Korra fumed as she said, "I know that."

"Apparently you don't," concluded the other.

"Hey!" the Water Tribe woman said defensively, holding her lower arms up, "I'd been doing great for the past six months."

"Don't praise yourself, kid," Lin narrowed her eyes at the younger woman, "As long as Republic City is concerned, the Avatar has not been here for years. Are we clear?"

The brunette crossed her arms, pouting and ignoring the chief's stare. She muttered a "Crystal" nonetheless.

* * *

Clothes fell on her bed as she discarded garment after garment looking for something to wear.

The closet, despite its massive size, held little to none of the pieces she had had in mind. The fabrics were too expensive, too nice, too everything. It was something she had never owned before, but she knew they were not the most appropriate for what she was planning on doing tonight.

She was a guest in the house. And although the place was uninhabited and the hosts were not aware of her residence, she still did not want to leave any proof that she was once there. The things she had already destroyed… Well, she hoped they did not notice they were gone.

As beautiful as the Sato Mansion was, she had no plans on staying longer than necessary. The awfully spacious place was driving her insane. She had been there for 6 months already and it seemed that the time would only keep on prolonging.

The council had decided that it was the best place for her to stay at. It was located in the outskirts of the city, and the previous owner was in prison and the daughter had moved out after the house had been raided by the police since it had been and underground Equalist workshop.

The girl, Asami, had preferred staying away from the luxurious mansion, as it brought her too many memories of her father's betrayal. She had allegedly given the Chief a free pass.

But even if the Sato heiress had allowed the Police to use her house, as the Chief had assured, Korra greatly doubted that she was even remotely aware of the fact that it was the Avatar herself who was sleeping in her chambers.

"Spirits, why is she so tall?" she muttered angrily to herself, examining the length of the pants in her hands.

Grabbing a pair of scissors, she prepared to do what she had done the past 5 days. The blades of the scissors cut their way through the clothes, making it more fitting for her. It also gave them the rough look that she was going for, as she did not believe she would pass as a Street Fighter with such tailored clothes.

"My apologies, Miss Sato," after snorting, she put on the clothes she had oh-so-carefully damaged.

As she looked at herself in the mirror one last time, she smiled approvingly. Her hair, which had been cut prior to her arrival in Republic City, barely reached her shoulders. The notorious wolf tails were long gone. Instead of the blue Water Tribe clothing, she wore the most Earthbender-like attire she was able to make from Asami's closet. Subsequently, she rolled a thick string of fabric around both of her arms.

And with a last check of her bindings, she opened the window and jumped right out of it.

* * *

If anyone were to ask how she had discovered the Underground Fighting Pits, she would have been honest and said that she was not completely sure herself. But after she had, for some reason she had made it a habit and kept it a secret, because Spirits forbid the Council found out about her current _hobby_.

There would be a ship very first thing in the morning with her name on it. Destination: as far away from the United Republic as possible.

They would never expect that from her, though. And that was their mistake, she thought. She had made it clear through the years that she was as predictable as a hurricane. The only predictable thing being that she would for sure cause some kind of trouble.

And _that,_ they expected. They did not know what yet, but the council knew that Korra had to be watched closely, if the low profile was to be maintained.

Being as sneaky as the Avatar was, she had naturally found a window of opportunity. Literally.

Since the property was big enough and she had become familiar with the modus operandi of the White Lotus guards, it was quite easy for her to leave unnoticed. So at night, when she was certain the guards were distracted, she slithered her way out of the mansion.

A voice in her head told her to turn around and go home every time she arrived at the arena. Unsurprisingly, that voice was none other than Tenzin's. But she had decided to ignore it, because the ring was the only place where she needed no protection. And most importantly, others were not claiming that she needed any. In fact, it was the opposite.

Fighting had become the only way to for her to loosen up. Sometimes one just needed to release the tension, one way or another. And this was hers.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young girl," her adversary snapped her out of her thoughts with his third person statement.

She could not help but feel much younger than she really was as she chuckled, "You better not feel conflicted about calling an ambulance after I'm done with you."

As she stared at her opponent, the dome began to confine them inside the ring. He was undoubtedly bigger than her, perhaps stronger. But as he turned around to interact with the audience, she saw his weakness. He lacked focus and strategy.

"The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings!" he announced with furrowed eyebrows, taking his stance as he waited for the cage to be entirely closed.

Only a few seconds.

Korra tilted her head from left to right, making cracking noises, "Are you done?" and when the man shot her a confused look, she saw her first opening.

With a swift move of her arm, the earth rumbled below her. The ground rose like a column, hitting the Boulder and sending him flying towards the metal cage surrounding them.

The man quickly stood up, his eyes open with shock. It must have been a low blow to his ego, forcing the Avatar to smile wider. Seeing the arrogant look on her face only made him angrier.

Before she could even process it, countless rocks were being thrown in her direction. Her legs moved instinctively, dodging the attempts of the Earthbender. But the Boulder was not stopping, growing more furious and frustrated every time he failed to hurt her.

She had been running, ducking and even ended up rolling on the ground when the shower of rocks caught up to her. The moment he stopped for just a second to recover his breath, she punched the last blasts that were aimed at her.

Her arms extended horizontally in front of her, her hands tensing and raising as if pulling the earth up with her. An earthquake was produced at her command, making the Boulder stumble, but not before he sent a sharp rock towards her. Almost immediately, she felt a burning sensation on her shoulder and she did not need to examine it to know that what was trickling down her breast was not sweat.

Blame it on the heat of the moment or on the adrenaline of the whole encounter, but she could not bring herself to care at all. She doubted that the gash had magically disappeared, even though soon enough it had stopped hurting completely.

Creating a wall from underneath him, her opponent left the ground, kicking it in her direction. She let it hit her, but to the Boulder's, and the audience's surprise, the wall had attached itself to her as an armor.

Any hits that the adversary tried were useless after that. He was getting more tired by the second, and Korra was only getting more exhilarated. She was in her element, she was bending.

With a last jerk of her hand, a boulder traveled in his direction, landing unfortunately between his legs. He doubled over in pain and she doubled over laughing. Not a second after, the armor left her body in pieces, hitting the man and knocking him unconscious.

Rules were rules. And there were only two ways to end a fight. Surrendering or a knockout. Believe it or not, this was the least painful way.

She felt bad for a moment, but as the excitement of the fight dissipated, the sting on her shoulder removed every guilty thought that had appeared in her mind.

"The girl has done it again, it's a Knockout!"

* * *

After the fight was done, she had ignored the people that were trying to get her attention as she had left the arena.

It did not bother her that they did, since they were fighting fanatics and probably just wanted to congratulate her or curse at her for her most current victory. Nevertheless, she was supposed to get home. It was enough for one night.

In addition to the exhausted muscles, her shoulder was begging for her attention. She had even considered healing it quickly in the empty locker rooms, but decided against it. First, there was the risk of being seen. Secondly, a _quick_ healing session did not seem to be enough for the wound.

For that reason, she had left sooner than usual. On other nights, she had stayed to watch the remaining fights. It was not as exciting as participating in one, but it was definitely more entertaining than going to sleep.

As she was making her way out of the underground, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey, wait up!" the person said, but seeing as she had not even acknowledged his voice, he ran until he caught up to her, "I watched you fight. That was amazing!"

"Thanks," the Avatar said without slowing her pace.

"You were just– And the way you hit the Boulder _there_ – Wow," the guy said excitedly, extending the 'o' to stress his amazement. She lifted her gaze to meet his face. He seemed to be around her age, with bright green eyes and a huge smile on his lips, "But as a guy, I must say that really, _really_ hurts. Like I-will-cry-for-days kind of hurt."

A loud laugh escaped her mouth as she listened to the raven-haired man walking next to her.

"My name's Bolin, by the way," he said while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "And you are…"

One of her eyebrows arched perfectly, "Not interested," she answered, but that damn smile was still displayed on her face.

"Mysterious, I like it," he gave her a nudge on the side, "I am heading to a bar, if you want to join me."

Before she could have answered, another person beat her to it.

"Right now? Come on, Bolin," Korra turned around to look at the source of the annoyed voice. His golden eyes met her blue ones. With an exasperated sigh, his vision shifted to the green-eyed guy.

The Avatar felt her eye twitch at his unexplainable indifference towards her, "Hey buddy, this is a private conversation!"

He snorted, "Whatever."

"Whatever?" the disbelief was palpable in her tone, "What are you, 12?"

There was a smirk on his face and Korra felt the immediate urge to slap it off of him, "No, but you could easily be."

Before said urge had the chance to take over her body, Bolin moved in front of her to prevent her from charging at the taller man, "So, you've met my brother, Mako," he laughed uncomfortably, before whispering, "Just ignore him."

"Gladly," she narrowed her eyes at Mako, who returned the gaze with as much intensity. He would not say it aloud, but he had enjoyed the short banter. She was truly intriguing.

"Anyways–" started the youngest of the three.

The girl looked down at her shoulder with a frown on her face, "I have to leave," she interrupted the guy in front of her, as she turned on her feet, "Bye, Bolin!" she said with a smile and then turned to Mako, "Jerk."

And then she did the last thing the Firebender could have ever thought of… She stuck her tongue at him.

As she turned her back on them, Mako heard her chuckle. He couldn't help but laugh under his breath too.

"You haven't told me your name!" but she had already disappeared into the distance.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm guessing that there might be a few questions. Everything will be answered eventually. Notes:

1\. Bending is not prohibited in Republic City. Only Korra is not allowed (or advised not) to bend so she won't be recognized.

2\. I don't see Mako as the kind of guy who would hit on a girl so straightforwardly like Bolin, thus I kept their introduction from the show. It's not that he is not interested, he just doesn't know it yet. Plus, comparing his first reaction to Korra to the one with Asami, he doesn't think Korra is amazing-looking in that obvious kind of way, (Again, it doesn't mean he is not interested and doesn't mean she is not beautiful).

 **Feedback is always appreciated. Don't hesitate to review with your thoughts/opinion.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	3. Absorption

_**Absorption**_

n. entire occupation of the mind.

* * *

"Do you want to go to the arena tonight?" asked the man with the red scarf.

He had been strangely more interested in the Fighting Pits lately.

To say that the whole night had impressed him would have been an understatement. The place was igniting with an excitement that he only remembered from the Pro-bending tournaments. Both events had their similarities, with the spectators rooting for a particular fighter or team and whatnot.

Contrary to what one might believe, the underground fighting was just as organized as the Pro-bending arena. Even though the pits had no rules, there was a specific way in which everything worked. There were gangs all over the place, yet everything was civilized, calm even.

The Firebender was not particularly fond of the fights themselves when they got too gory, but he would have been lying if he said that he had not enjoyed at least some of the fights. They were intense and full of life, the audience uniting with every flinch, gasp and scream. Whatever people did in there was no sport, but it definitely felt like one.

Perhaps his interest was also related to a certain person he had met. Whether it actually had something to do with the blue-eyed brunette, he refused to admit it out loud.

He would not even admit to himself.

Why would he anyway? She was just a random person who happened to be at the arena the night he had decided to attend. But for some reason, it did not feel like she was _just_ a random person. He could not shake off that feeling no matter how hard he tried.

She was not the first nor the last woman fighting underground, so she was definitely not special in that sense. The girl was attractive, he would not deny that, but beauty played no roles when it came to bending. So what was it about her that perked up his interest? He could not pinpoint it yet, frustrating him to no end.

The moment she had lunged at The Boulder that night, he noticed something. She was a natural; her Earthbending was flawless during most of the fight. But she moved like no Earthbender he had ever seen before. And he had met plenty. Her technique and movements were something else entirely.

The Firebender had stopped watching the man in the ring and focused solely on the woman like an eagle-hawk.

It seemed as if the Boulder's strikes were only striking _air_.

There was more to her than met the eye, that much he was certain of. He could not help but want to discover _what_.

"Again?" his brother's voice interrupted his train of thought, "We already went three times in a row."

"So?" Mako said, shrugging his shoulders, "I thought you liked the whole thing."

"Yeah, I do. But I thought you didn't–" all of sudden, his green eyes narrowed with mischief, "Wait a minute!"

The older brother raised an eyebrow, eyeing his brother warily, "What?

"You like _her_!" before the Firebender could say anything, a blush invaded his porcelain white complexion, the smirk on his brother's face only widening, "Aha! I totally knew it."

Bringing his palm to his forehead with a thud, Mako grunted in exasperation, "I don't like her. I don't even know her. And if I do recall correctly, you were the one hitting on her."

"She's strong, I'm strong. She's fun, I'm fun. She's beautiful, I'm gorgeous," Bolin explained matter-of-factly, "Obviously I had to ask her out. Anyone would have," continued the younger brother with that _duh_ tone, "Well, anyone except you."

"I don't like her!" he said defensively, "And I did not go to the pits because of her. She wasn't even there to begin with."

The last part was true. She had not participated in the fights the last few nights and was also nowhere to be found. Not that he was looking for her and not that it mattered anyway. Even if people eagerly attended the nightly events, most of them had lives of their own. This girl would not be an exception. Whoever she was, he doubted illicit underground fighting was the nucleus of her every day.

To be quite honest, he had not even expected to see her there. But he had hoped that he would.

"And how do you know that?" the accusatory tone in the Earthbender added to his smirk only made Mako's cheeks redden even more.

"I–"

While nudging his brother on the side, Bolin said, "You can say whatever you want, bro. I can see right through your brooding face."

He knew that it was a lost battle. When his little –although not so little anymore– brother had an idea in his mind, he would never give up on it. Especially if it had something to do with the Firebender's personal life.

Clearing his throat, he decided to change the uncomfortable topic, "Any word from Viper?"

The emerald-eyed man shook his head, "They had been quiet for a few days now."

"Too quiet," Mako added. His brother was right. All Triads were uncharacteristically secretive lately. Usually, there would be something going on. The gangs were on constant war against one another, that was the natural order of things. Bloody encounters were bound to happen, and did happen more often than not. Crossing territories was the regular cause, but members were also not fond of one another on a regular basis. That is why the Underground Pits were so surprising.

"Do you think they are Avatar-hunting?"

His eyes landed on a newspaper he had purchased days ago with the headline _AVATAR BACK IN REPUBLIC CITY?_ It was definitely not a far-fetched theory, "Could be."

Bolin looked nervous all of sudden but said nothing more about it.

"If something were to happen, I'm sure we would know," promised the Firebender, sensing his brother's discomfort.

Although they were not high up on the Triad rank, it was still easy to find out about most plans and news. Especially confidential information, ironically enough. The more of a secret something was, the faster it would get around. Everyone was aware of that, even the leaders.

It could not have been a coincidence that the Triads retreaded into their headquarters the day that the Avatar was supposedly spotted in the city.

Putting all thoughts aside, the Firebender grabbed his keys and headed to the door, "Ready to go on a run?"

* * *

The day had been uneventful, much to his relief and, at the same time, to his dismay.

He merely ran numbers for the Triple Threats. At least that was his job on a normal basis. He preferred it that way, though. It was better to stay away from the actual terrors of the triads, and try his best for his brother to do the same. And even though on some days he was commanded to do _other_ things he was not exactly proud of, it would not happen frequent enough for him to be eaten up by guilt.

In Republic City one had to hustle or be hustled.

While his position could have been easily replaced, he was still around, even if some gang members did not particularly like him. At the end of the day, the important part was for his boss to like him, which he did. He was not Zolt's right hand, but the man certainly respected him and had a spot for him, given the fact that he knew Mako since he was just a boy.

For said reason, the Triple Threat leader had taken him under his tutelage, so to speak. Generating lightning was among the things the man had taught him throughout the years. To this day, he had not forced Mako to do anything entirely despicable, and for that, he was grateful. Most members his age already had blood on their hands.

Deciding to focus on the sight in front of him, he pushed his thoughts regarding the Triads to the back of his mind.

"She's not fighting tonight," his brother announced, taking a seat next to him, "I asked."

He shrugged as he locked his vision on the arena, where two women were battling each other. The Waterbender was sending whips in the other's direction, but the Firebender easily melted them.

"Are you still in denial?"

"I'm not in denial," he said, but he could not hide the disappointment in his golden eyes. Sure, it was fun to see benders fight each other, and it was even more fun to make money out of it, but the fight itself was just not holding his full attention.

He continued to watch the fight, trying his best to actually show interest for what was happening. It was just _so_ dull and predictable. At least to him. The rest of the public seemed to go frenetic on the action. For some reason, he had the feeling that _she_ would have been able to knock both girls out in the ring with no problem. Maybe even more than two girls. Now, that was a fight he would pay to see.

It's not that he liked her, really. He was simply curious about her. He was not exactly sure why yet, but that was what he wanted to find out.

The woman in the ring stumbled and fell on ice, the Waterbender taking the opportunity to land a strike on the opponent's leg. The icy daggers turned red as blood poured from the Firebender's limb. She cried out in pain then, surrendering.

His brother whooped with excitement, along with the other fanatics, "That's what I'm talking about! More yuans for Bolin!"

Mako chuckled at the Earthbender's excitement, patting him on the shoulder before leaving his seat.

* * *

His brother was probably too immersed in the whole celebration to notice that he had left for a walk.

As the grounds were completely crowded, he moved around the arena with difficulty. He had no reason to explore the venue, but he would blame it on his curiosity. He had blamed curiosity for many things lately. And just as the sayings goes, curiosity killed the cat-owl.

In reality, he was slightly bored in his seat. He was not entertained at all by the fights, and the eagerness he had felt the first night in the pits had almost completely vanished.

He found himself moving around the actual pit after a half hour walk. To his right were the stands with the audience. He was unable to see any bodies as the height was preventing him from doing so, but he could hear the cheers and screams coming from above. To his left, the rocky arena rose above the ground.

It seemed as if he were walking in a circle around the ring, which was probably what he was doing. He studied the people in the area. All of them were wrestlers, or at least they looked like it. They wore torn clothes, bindings around their limbs and so on. Some had bruises, other had casts and others, dried blood.

Despite their beat-up appearances, they were laughing and socializing, as if their injuries meant nothing. That was also most likely true. Here he was, thinking these people came to hurt each other for fun, when in fact they seemed to be almost friends. Huh.

Since he was engaged in thought, he had failed to see a leg stretched out a few feet in front of him. Naturally, he tripped on it and fell flat on his face. He heard laughs around him, setting his cheeks on fire.

He quickly stood up, dusting his grey coat in the process, "Watch it!" he growled with narrowed eyes.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going, _Cool Guy_ ," a female voice sneered next to him.

Not a second after, his eyes found the source of the mocking comment. The first thing he saw was the color blue. He had that shade imprinted in his mind from the moment he had first laid eyes on her while she fought. He could have forgotten about every other feature, but he was sure he would never forget her eyes.

"Why did you stick your foot out in front of me?" his tone was full with annoyance. Deep, deep inside, he was actually excited.

"Why were you walking in front of my foot?" she countered with a smirk, pressing a finger on his chest.

"Is he bothering you?" someone asked from behind them, making them both turn around. A group of men were giving the Firebender threatening looks.

The brunette shook her head, and returned her attention to Mako.

"They think you need protection?" he said incredulously, but it ended up sounding like a question.

"No," the blue-eyed girl snorted, "They probably think you do."

"Funny," the tallest of the two complimented sarcastically.

She laughed at his comment with a roll of her eyes, "Mako, right?"

Nodding, he held out his hand for her to shake, "And you are?"

As she opened her mouth to answer, he noticed a glimpse of uncertainty fill her eyes. She looked from side to side and then back at him, "Isn't that your brother over there?"

The Firebender turned around to find his brother nervously making his way through the sea of thugs and fighters. When Bolin was finally standing next to him, he allowed himself to focus back on the girl, but to his disappointment, she had left.

He fought the urge to rip the hair off his head.

"What are you doing down here?" the Earthbender asked him with furrowed eyebrows.

"I was–" but his sentence was cut off when he saw a certain short-haired brunette leaving from the other end of the arena. The girl pulled the hood of her green park over her head as she exited, "Wait for me at home," he told his brother, "I have to do something."

* * *

What was her problem?

It was not polite to disappear in the middle of a conversation. He had met enough reserved people in his life to know which lines not to cross. But spirits, she was not even willing to give her name. Or at least that is what it seemed. She also looked like she had enjoyed annoying him, so really, he had no clue what was wrong with her.

Maybe a better question was: what was _his_ problem?

Obviously he had no right to be angry over her lack of interest, since they had talked to each other for around three minutes altogether. He did not care if she disappeared a hundred times, she was not _that_ special. She could vanish forever if she so pleased. He had more than enough things to worry about to start thinking and over-thinking about some girl.

Yet he was going after her. He cursed at himself.

As he exited the underground, his eyes adjusted on the moonlit street, where crowds were moving in an out due to the ongoing illegal fighting.

At the end of the street, where it divided into two, he caught a glance of a familiar green parka and followed its direction.

The Firebender moved through the road, dodging the bodies that were walking in the opposite direction. The more rational part of his brain told him to cease whatever he was doing, that it made no sense and it could get him in trouble. After all, going after a woman in the middle of the night without her consent _screamed_ stalker.

Just when he was about to turn around, he saw the saw brunette meet his eyes in the distance. She only grinned, as if daring him to continue.

Did she want him to follow her?

It seemed so, if the grin was any proof. When he saw her disappear into an alley, his feet moved faster.

As he made it into the alleyway, he found no one in there. Another thing he did not find was an exit at the other side of it. It was a dead end.

He felt his heart beat faster, reacting to the danger that this situation promised.

All of sudden, something sharp came in contact with his neck. It could have been a knife or a dagger, but he did not dare to move to find out. The razor-edged weapon was firm against his skin.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to follow a lady, _Cool Guy_?"

* * *

 **A/N: That's it for Chapter 3. A few notes:**

1\. Bending is not prohibited in Republic City. Only Korra is not allowed (or advised not) to bend so she won't be recognized.

2\. Korra's (Earth Kingdom) parka outfit is the same she wears in Book 4.

 **Thanks for reading. I would very much appreciate the reviews!**


	4. Multifaceted

_**Multifaceted**_

adj. Having many different aspects or features

* * *

"Didn't anyone teach you not to follow a lady, _Cool Guy_?"

Even if the situation demanded otherwise, he felt his muscles relax at the sound of her voice. It was a sound that he barely knew, yet knew so well. She was a mystery to him, but he would recognize that voice in a crowd, in the distance, under any circumstances, really. His heartbeat was still quickening, but unlike seconds ago, this time it was for a different reason.

It was her mere presence.

But regardless of the effect that the stranger had on him, he still had knife pressed dangerously against his neck. Whatever her purpose was, he had to play it safe. For all he knew, she could be insane. Although looking back at his actions, following her around and whatnot, maybe he was the crazy one.

"Listen," he started, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible, "I didn't mean to, you know–"

"Be a complete stalker?" she finished his sentence as she hardened her grip on the haft of the blade, pushing it closer to him, if that was even possible. He felt a shiver making its way down his spine, and yes, it was mainly because of the knife. But she was just _so_ close.

"I wasn't–" growling in frustration, he decided that excusing himself would not convince anyone, especially not her. He took a deep breath, "So what? You're going to attack an unarmed person? Slit my throat?"

She laughed behind him, the knife leaving his neck momentarily, "Unarmed?" before he could have reacted, the weapon was back on its previous spot, leaving a possible bruise on his neck. Her laugh was soon replaced by a serious tone, "Could've fooled me."

Pulling his arms up, he showed her that he was indeed weaponless, "I've got nothing."

"You don't need a knife," he heard her scoff, "You're a Firebender."

It was not a question, it was a statement. She sounded completely certain. While his mind replayed his memories, his eyebrows knitted in thought. He did not recall one single time he might have firebent in front of her, or even mentioned that he did, for the matter. Their couple of encounters had been brief.

Maybe someone had been doing some stalking of their own.

"How would you even know that?" his tone was skeptical, and had she been facing him, she would have been able to see him narrow his eyes.

She retreated without saying a word, taking the knife with her. He blinked a few times, confused by her sudden actions. His eyes were fixed on her back as she neared the end of the alley. Was she just walking away? It would not surprise him at all, since she seemed to be a fan of disappearing in the middle of something. And he would gladly let her leave, at least he told himself so. It was also probably for the best if she did.

But he was _oh so wrong_.

Before he could even process what was happening, her leg was already in the air, her body spinning along with it. He did not have time to comprehend what she was doing because a boulder was soon heading in his direction. The only thing he could do, and he blamed it on his instincts, was send a fire blast to deflect it.

As soon as the flames ignited, he could see it in her face.

That annoying smirk of hers.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Relax," she said with a roll of her eyes, "It was just a tiny rock."

His eye started to twitch at her words. He had no idea how he could like someone like her. No. He did not like her. There was something clearly wrong with her, and he would rather not get tangled in something he would not be able to handle.

"Why would you do that?" pinching the bridge of his nose, he grunted.

"I wanted to prove that you are a Firebender."

"So you attacked me?" he shook his head at her irrational behavior.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she moved slowly towards him, "Spirits, stop with the questions."

In his head, he kept telling himself to make a run for it. There was something about the way she was looking at him, and he knew for a fact that the mischievous glint in her eyes could mean nothing but bad news. He had seen that look many times before. Bolin tended to be the exact way when he was up to no good.

It was ridiculous of him to feel somewhat intimated by the girl. She was nowhere near small, but she was when compared to him. For some reason, he did not dare to move.

She pulled out the knife, pointing it at him as she circled him, "Maybe I should be the one asking questions."

Even though he did not want to assume, it sure seemed like she was enjoying torturing him. The way she moved and the way she watched him closely resembled the motions of a predator hunting its prey.

And he really wanted to just leave, but at the same time, he was a male and he could not shake off the feeling that there was something awfully attractive about the way she was looking at him.

However, when she tried to close the distance between him and the knife, he naturally retreated in the opposite direction until his back hit the alley wall.

"Why are you following me?" her turquoise turned darker, and he knew that she was not playing around anymore. But she was unpredictable, one second she was smirking and the other she looked ready to slice him up.

He refused to say anything, as the truth was too embarrassing to say it aloud.

"Answer me!" she whispered-yelled at him in frustration. One thing he learned about her, she did not like waiting at all, "What do you know about me?"

Instead of saying 'nothing' like he knew he should have, he decided to remain quiet. It was not the best idea to mess with someone holding a sharp weapon, but he knew an empty threat when he saw one. She would not hurt him. At least he liked to believe so.

When she pouted because of his silence, he fought the grin that threatened to appear on his face. She liked getting on his nerves, but he could enjoy that as well.

"Stop ignoring me," even with that intense and stern expression of hers, he still did not take her as seriously as he probably should have. He decided to test his luck and push it a bit further, "Don't just stand there. You could easily fight your way out! Do something!"

She was right, he could. Or he could try, at least. But he did not want to move away, not really. She was too close, and despite his wish to feel otherwise, he did like it.

The blade was pushed firmly against his Adam's apple, but the only thing he could think of was the fact that her face was inches away from his. All he needed to do was lean down a little and…

"And why do you keep looking at my lips?" she stuttered her way through the sentence, as if trying to make sense of what was happening. She moved back, eyeing him up and down.

"I–"

"Wait a second," and he just saw the realization hit her as her mouth formed an 'o', "You like me."

Again, it was not a question, she _knew_. And if she was not completely certain before, his crimson colored cheeks erased any doubt she might have had.

Still, he would have rather get stabbed by her than tell her that she was _slightly_ right. He could see it already, her ego boosting with that cocky smile.

It was his time to roll his eyes, "What? Don't be ridiculous."

Getting close to him again, she hit him on his chest with the tip of her finger, "Admit it. You like me."

"Get over yourself," he spat and felt suddenly very grateful for the fact that she was not a mind reader. He could only imagine that she would rejoice on the idea of her being right, and that he did indeed like her being so close.

"I'm just being honest," she tilted her head to the side as her hand landed next to his shoulder. He noticed that he was somehow caged between her knife and her other arm.

"You're crazy!"

"Am I?"

There was that low tone again and he tried his best to stop himself from behaving like a teenage boy. He was a grown man, for Spirit's sake. If tonight was any indication, the girl was completely mental. Why should he give a damn about her?

She leaned in again, not even attempting to disguise what she was doing, or about to do. It was beyond him how she seemed to do such things just for the fun of getting under his skin. They had met less than a week ago, after all. Why should _she_ give a damn about _him_?

In his mind, he was knocking some sense into himself because this was not like him at all. He was not the kind to just go with the flow and let his emotions take over. Especially when his emotions were telling him to do something so utterly stupid.

But when her lips were almost on top of his, he chose to ignore the rational part of his brain because as much of a stranger as she was, the blue eyed girl was still quite a beautiful stranger. He could punish himself later for his reckless behavior.

Just as he closed his eyes, he felt something touch his mouth soon after. But to his disappointment and to his embarrassment, they were not her lips, but one of her fingers. He looked down at it, and then back up at her. If there was a moment for the earth to swallow him whole, it would have been that one.

He waited for it…

"So much for not liking me, huh?" patting him on the cheek, she flashed him a wide smile.

And there it was.

"Woah, are you okay?" her laugh filled the silent alleyway, "Your face is matching that red scarf of yours."

Surprisingly enough, he did not feel as mortified as he would have normally been. The situation itself was enough to make him hide from women for a while, but the way she was smiling at him eased his awkwardness. She did not do it to humiliate him, but to tease him, much like a kid would.

She was childish in a way, which reminded him of Bolin.

Her loud laugh was replaced by soft giggles, and then the corners of his lips turned upwards at her new-found youth. There were definitely more facets to her than he had anticipated. Her hand was still steady on his cheek, and he could not help but wonder what was going on through her mind.

"You are not going to kiss me tonight," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest, as if to warn him not to make a move. Not that he would, anyway.

But what they both knew is that there was some kind of promise behind her threat. She had said that he could not kiss her _tonight._ Whether or not she had planned for it to come out that way, it did not matter now, that is what it sounded like.

She also did not correct herself or comment anything on his raised eyebrows. Perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him or the lack of light, but he could have sworn that her cheeks reddened too.

With all the courage he could muster, he said, "So there will be another night?"

As she started to bit her lip, he could see her debating internally. To him, that was a good thing, since it meant that a part of her did want to see him again. And even if it was a small part, it gave him hope nonetheless.

"Can I know your name at least?" he voiced what he had been wondering ever since he met her.

Silence engulfed them again for a few seconds before she spoke up, "Kya."

"Kya," he repeated as she scratched the back of her neck. Offering his hand, he repeated what he had already said a million times, "I'm Mako. Nice to meet you."

She laughed at his formality but shook his hand nevertheless. Even in the darkness of the alley, her blue eyes were shining in the moonlight. They were so bright and so… alive.

It was obvious that he was studying her face, but she did not seem to recoil or mind at all. In fact, she seemed to be doing exactly the same.

Maybe it was his imagination, but there was some kind of unspoken message between them. And just maybe, it could be _tonight_ after all.

And it could have possibly happened, if not for the sound of screams and running coming from the nearest street.

She did not wait a second before bolting towards the commotion, and he followed suit.

They ran up the street, in the direction of the fighting pits, until there were too many bodies for them to make it to the source of the whole chaos. Some people were fleeing the scene, others gathered to watch out of curiosity. But the screams were full of horror.

He noticed the way she moved through the crowd, pushing people out of the way as if her own life depended on it. If his own adrenaline was not kicking in, he would have stopped to think of how she was handling the situation. Because she was not acting out of curiosity. She looked truly worried, like she was meant to be the hero. But why?

As soon as they made it to the front, he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone was standing around a lamp post, which would have normally been nothing out of the ordinary, but what made it so alarming and horrific was the fact that it was set on fire.

And tied to it was a body. A now dead body.

The flames were growing stronger by the second, forcing the audience to move back. But _she_ did not. She was not fazed by the fire at all.

He shook her shoulder to get her attention, but she seemed to be in a trance, her eyes glued to an object lying on the ground. When he looked closely, he noticed that it was some kind of blue and white helmet with an insignia on it.

"Is that a–" before he could finish his sentence, police sirens were heard in the distance. The brunette grabbed his hand and ran away from the street as fast as they could.

"It's a White Lotus."

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this Makorra-filled chapter. Notes:

1\. I've always seen Korra as a confident gal who could enjoy some teasing. I wanted to show that here, especially since she is not a teenager in this story. It also clashes with Mako's serious demeanor.

2\. Some lines are indeed from Book 1: Air.

 **Please leave a review with your thoughts. Thank you for reading.**


	5. Coincidence

_**Coincidence**_

n. a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

* * *

She was never one to remain calm in times of despair.

Although the event was not exactly something that could be categorized as a catastrophe, she still felt as if her ground was shaken. She felt out of balance. It was almost impossible for her to concentrate on whatever happened soon after she had abandoned the scene. There were mixed feelings brewing inside of her, but none of them were good.

Her mind was speeding up, her senses failing to work as well as she would have wanted. Everything around her blurred as she made her way through the sea of panicking bodies on the streets. She dodged and pushed, whatever necessary for her to escape the terrors that were tearing her mind apart.

She was upset for several obvious and not so obvious reasons, more so than any other spectator. To begin with, her brain was trying to connect the _why_ , _how_ and _who_. It did not take a genius to figure out the answers to the puzzle currently invading her thoughts, but it concerned her beyond measure as it seemed that they were getting closer to her than she had anticipated.

Under any other circumstances, she would have helped control the situation, she would have dealt with the tragedy. She would have done something, _anything_. It killed her inside to feel so helpless, but she had to be careful. There were eyes everywhere, and she could not afford to make the wrong move.

What to do next? She was not completely sure. There were many ways to attack this situation at the moment, and her brain discarded them one by one. If she was the same teenager that arrived in Republic City, she would have done the first thing that came to mind. But if there was anything that she had learned as an adult was the fact that impulsiveness could get her in more trouble than she already was to begin with.

After she ran out of options, she accepted that the best thing to do was for her to run home and pretend that she had never left her chambers. It was safe to assume that as soon as the police realized what had happened and Beifong was alerted, she would be screwed. The Chief would surely and immediately check on the Avatar, not only because she wanted to know if the brunette was safe, but mostly to be certain that Korra had nothing to do with the mayhem going on the city.

If she were to be completely honest, many problems in the past had been directly or indirectly her fault.

As she regained her composure, while her legs moved rapidly through the streets, she started to notice the person keeping her pace. She cursed for forgetting that _he_ was there, probably worried and confused about her strange behavior. How could she be so stupid? She could not lead him to her place, or even give him the slightest idea of where she was staying.

The guy was interesting, she would give him that much. But she knew close to nothing about him, and he knew nothing about her. That was a dangerous person in her book. That being said, she did not believe that he was a bad person, at least her instincts told her so. But she had misjudged people in the past too, as did everyone else.

She had to be careful. Even if for some reason she did not feel like being careful with him.

As she stopped in her tracks, the guy followed suit, placing his hands on his thighs, "What do you think you're doing?"

Inhaling and exhaling to calm herself down, her eyes scanned the empty street they were now in, "I– I don't know," she lied as her voice trembled, something that annoyed her to no end.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and not a second after, she slapped it away from her. Even though she did not mean to react as aggressively as she did, she did not apologize either. She did not owe him anything after all. She did not care what he thought of her.

Or at least she did not want to care.

Being the Avatar meant that she had a thousand issues on her plate on a daily basis, so she refused to be dragged into some kind of romantic drama.

"I'm sorry," he said as he retreated his hand awkwardly.

The atmosphere was tense between them, blame it on her sudden stiff demeanor or his already rigid one. He just kept staring at her in a way that made her feel naked somehow, as if he was trying to figure her out.

But she would not let him. He couldn't.

"What happened back there?" his voice was low, perhaps to prevent any passer-by who could hear him.

Although she knew that he was too clever to fall for that, she gave it her best shot at pretending she had no idea what he was talking about, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me now," he sighed in exasperation, "You ran away like your life depended on it, I was calling your name the whole time, You were–"

"That's enough!" pointing a finger at him, she growled, "Do you even understand what we just witnessed?"

He blinked a few times before opening his mouth to reply, "There was a–"

"The right answer is _no_ ," her leg rose as she moved to kick a Satomobile nearby, leaving a dent on the door of the vehicle, "You don't understand."

It was not her intention to let her anger slip like that in front of, pretty much, a stranger, but she was not really known for her collected and calm behavior. Quite the contrary.

The Firebender placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to hold her steadily as she unsuccessfully jerked away from his grasp.

"Pull it together," while on one hand his voice was harsh, she could still notice the softness in his golden eyes. It was a different kind of softness, that which belonged to someone who had witnessed death themselves. Someone who had suffered greatly.

She could not help but feel somewhat amazed by the revelations that he was unconsciously displaying on his face. He was obviously a very reserved person, if their last couple of meetings were any indication.

Ignoring the urge to hit him for telling her what to do, she decided that he had a point indeed and listened to him instead. Her breathing became less frantic, her pulse eventually matching its pace. After she was slightly more composed, she started to pay closer attention to her surroundings, her senses becoming more alert.

The brunette noticed that the pair of hands loosened their grip on her shoulders, but the two never abandoned their place.

She also noticed that she did not mind.

Taking a deep breath, he broke the silence, "I know it can be difficult to see something like that," she observed his Adam's apple move up and down, "It never becomes any easier."

His last sentence was a mere whisper, barely audible, but she caught it. It was true. She was no stranger to tragedy. She had traveled and seen enough to know that death came in many ways. Almost none of them were pretty. No matter how peaceful it was, watching someone die always took a piece of her.

This gruesome event was naturally no different.

Particularly because she felt like it was completely her fault.

Had she not been roaming around and breaking rules as usual, the White Lotus Sentry would not have been there. That _had_ to be the reason he was there. It was not a simple coincidence that her guard was conveniently, or inconveniently, less than a block away from her. She was not a child anymore. She did not believe in coincidences.

Coincidences were something naïve people used as excuses.

"Tell me about it," agreed the blue eyed woman.

One of his hands left her shoulder as he ran it through his hair. There was an uncertainty in his expression, as if he did not know what to do next, and she honestly did not know either.

"Do you know why anyone would do _that_?" she voiced quietly, not because she was scared someone could hear her, but because she felt much smaller than she truly was.

He inhaled deeply once again, but did not hesitate to answer, "Yes."

Their eyes locked for what felt like a lifetime, Korra trying to push him to explain further, and the black-haired man possibly looking for a reason not to tell her.

What he did not know is that she already knew the answer. Not only that, but she _was_ the answer. It could mean a lot of things, but it was undoubtedly related to her. Maybe they wanted to lure her in, maybe they were trying to send her a message, maybe they just wanted the White Lotus out of their gang territory.

Regardless of the true reason, she was completely sure that it concerned her, which meant she had to run the hell away from there.

Noticing the anxiety in her eyes, he spoke the words that she should have said before, "You need to go home. You're not okay."

When she looked into his eyes, she knew that he would not follow nor insist on coming along. He respected her privacy, and if there was something she had made sure he knew was the fact that she was not willing to share personal information.

His lips were forming a thin line as he put his hands in the pockets of his jackets, "Will I see you again?"

Had she been in a slightly better mood, she would have smiled at his nervousness. Instead, her hand reached out for his jab, and soon after she pressed her lips gently against his cheek.

She knew that her lips lingered there longer than necessary, and she also knew that she should not have wished for more. But she did. It was impossible to ignore the change in the air. It was more electric and suffocating, dragging her towards this person whom she could only call a stranger.

And for the shortest second, she did not mind that he was a stranger. She wanted to figure out what this man was about.

"Definitely," she muttered close to his ear as she pulled away from him, not ignoring the tinting color on his porcelain white skin.

And then they turned in two different directions, none looked back at the other.

* * *

"How does your main Guard end up in gang territory, Korra?"

The Chief of the Republic City asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. The older woman stared at her with narrowed eyes while she tapped her fingers repeatedly on the council table. If she may say so herself, the Avatar was a pretty decent liar. But the brunette knew Lin did not believe her at all, despite her very convincing alibi.

Next to the Metalbender Official was Tenzin, stroking his beard in thought, probably wondering the same things that his old partner was concerned about. It was too much of a coincidence. It did not matter how many times she defended herself, or ahem, lied to defend herself, they would still think it was too suspicious.

"We're not accusing you of anything. We do believe you," promised the Airbender. She fought the grin that was threatening to make an appearance on her face. Apparently she was not the only liar on the table. "It is just very unsettling."

While closing her eyes, she sighed, guilt washing over her. They had reasons not to believe her. Very good reasons indeed since she was actually to blame for what happened. She wanted to speak up and take responsibility and whatever punishment that came along for disobeying Beifong's strict orders, but it would not make a difference if she did confess her nightly activities.

Yes, they would know what the sentry was doing in said location, but that was about it. It was not going to help them catch whoever did it or stop something else from happening. She would only get send away or locked in the mansion during her whole stay. And she really did enjoy her bendable freedom. No one had gotten hurt until now. She just had to be more careful next time.

At least that was her logic for it.

But she did not want to be selfish like that. No one would get hurt because of her adventures again, even if that meant sacrificing whatever it was that she did at night.

"Listen," started the young Avatar releasing a breath that she did not know she was holding, "I already told you what happened, I never left the Sato grounds last night."

Tilting her head back, the green-eyed woman raised an accusatory eyebrow, "Last night?"

"You know what I meant," Korra's annoyed tone did not match her internal reaction. The Avatar cursed for letting any kind of hint slip. Beifong was too smart. If she continued making such small mistakes, the Chief was going to put the pieces together in no time.

While pinching the bridge of her nose, the Metalbender looked back at Tenzin, "It's getting too dangerous for her here."

"Perhaps it is more convenient if Korra continues with her traveling schedule," said the arrow-tattooed man as he nodded in agreement.

As much as she had already expected them to make that decision, she was still taken aback, "No! You can't just– No."

The two elders looked at each other before the man started, "Korra, we are only worried–"

Shaking her head, she placed her arms firmly on the table, "If you believe for a second that the murders are going to stop if I leave, you're a fool. The gangs won't stop. Do you think they give a damn?"

Silence took over the room for almost a minute. Even if it was her fault this mess started to begin with, they all knew that she had a point. There was no stopping it now.

"So what do you suggest, _Avatar_?" Beifong's mocking tone was impossible to miss.

"We need someone on the inside."

With a snort, the grey-haired woman answered, "And let me guess. That someone is you."

"Well–"

"No," the children of the Hundred Year War heroes cut her off in unison.

"But–"

Tenzin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and talked with that calm tone of his, "I know that you only want to help, Korra. But what you are suggesting is completely absurd."

"As if you could pull this off. They would recognize your face from a mile away," added the Chief while shaking her head at the stupidity of her plan.

 _If they only knew_ , she thought. One of the best feelings she could ever imagine was proving someone wrong. Someone who did not believe she was capable of doing something. Perhaps they thought she was not smart enough, or mature enough, or strong enough. So when she did prove them wrong, even if she had to keep it a secret, there was a certain pride and joy in that moment.

"We will call the Sato girl instead," the Metalbender said, annoying Korra in the process.

"Her father is in prison thanks to me," she countered with a roll of her eyes, "Why would she help me out?"

"I will take care of that," the Airbender responded.

She crossed her arms, a frown adorning her features, "So what do I do?"

"You will do _nothing_ ," the stress on the word was more than enough to let the Avatar know that the Metalbender meant business. It would have intimidated most people, but not Korra.

The Sato girl was not necessary. She was already on the inside, even if they did not know nor approve of it.

* * *

There was an uneasiness about the day. She could not pinpoint what it was. Maybe she was expecting something to happen, because something was _always_ happening. It was just her luck.

After being dismissed from the meeting due to the arrival of President Raiko, thank the Spirits, she had started to wander around the grounds of the City Hall. She had no interest whatsoever in whatever he had to say, and she knew they would probably just talk about election matters. It should've concerned her, and it usually did, but giving everything that was going on, the Officials agreed that she could use the time off.

Nevertheless, she was not allowed to leave the City Hall unsupervised. Sometime after the meeting, a group of guards would escort her back to the Sato mansion. Maybe even Beifong would take her there to make sure the Avatar stayed where she was supposed to.

As she continued with her tour around the facility, she heard voices coming from an adjacent room. Usually she wouldn't have eavesdropped, but as long as she did not get caught, she did not see why not.

The voices were too low for her to decipher what they were saying, but she could notice that they were all men.

The footsteps moved towards the door she was suddenly pressing against, so she ran quickly and hid under a desk. She could've excused herself and say that she was looking for a bathroom, but she wanted to know who was in Raiko's office when the president was obviously not around.

As the newcomers entered the room she stuck her head from under the table to take a look at them.

Bad idea.

Horrible idea.

The men were wearing black from head to toe, their faces covered with masks. Only their eyes were visible. She panicked at the view in front of her because there was no way any friends or allies would dress like that just for the fun of it. They were still whispering, while searching for something on the shelves and drawers.

She pressed as hard as she could to the back of the desk and prayed to whatever Spirit out there to make them leave. She could have tried to take them down, but she did not know who they were or what they wanted. One of them could escape and inform the whole city underground.

Furthermore, everyone was supposed to think that she was not in Republic City. This was a major red flag.

As one of the men neared the desk, she held her breath. A wrong movement on her part would mean disaster. She eyed his legs as he searched the drawers, hoping that he did not reach the bottom ones.

But then a noise alerted the invaders and the Avatar was able to exhale again.

"Should we get going?" one of them spoke.

"Yes, we have to find her quickly."

She froze at the sound of the last voice. She wanted to believe that it was her mind playing tricks on her, because there was no way _he_ was here.

Mako could not be there. Impossible.

Before the men left the room, she sneaked a peek once more, making sure that she was careful enough not to be spotted.

One of the men's eyes were golden.

* * *

 **A/N:** I have no idea how a week turned into more than a month. This was probably the busiest, but most fun month in my entire life. So cheers to that! However, I must apologize for taking so long. Hopefully my other story, **The Light Within** will be updated tomorrow or the day after.

The next chapter will be an interesting one for sure, as we will get to see how this attempt at the City Hall will play out. An action filled one.

As always, reviews are very much appreciated it. Please let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading!


	6. Deceptive

_**Deceptive**_

adj. giving an appearance or impression different from the true one; misleading.

* * *

"–We have to find her quickly."

She did not need to think about it twice to know who _she_ was.

The chances that she was mistaken were very slim. Only an oblivious person, or a stupid one, would think that there was nothing wrong about the current predicament.

Even after she heard the click of the door, announcing that the men were gone, she stayed in her concealed spot under the desk. She decided that she had to wait for a couple of minutes before exiting the room as well.

 _If_ she left the room at all.

She had to be very careful when she made her next move. Whether or not they were actually looking for her, and she was actually certain that they were, she could not just walk out of the office she was in.

First off, she did not know how many intruders there were exactly. She saw three in the room. But just as easily as these ones sneaked in, others could have done so too.

There were many things in her head that she had no answers to. However, that would not stop her from acting. Something needed to be done before anyone got hurt.

And yes, she did not know anything about these men, but she doubted that they were friendly at all or unwilling to attack others. After all, they were in the City Hall. A place protected by Republic City police and White Lotus Sentries for the time being. Regardless of what gang they belonged to, she knew that they would not mind getting their hands dirty. They were not necessarily known for their good behavior and compassion.

In that moment, she thought of Mako. She wanted to push everything related to him to the back of her mind until she actually had time to analyze what she believed she had seen.

Although she wanted to convince herself that there was no way it was him under that mask, there were indeed a lot of ways. It made more sense in her head than she had expected.

The Firebender was not the only one that had been observing the other. She had been studying him from afar too, even if he was not aware of it. When he was in the arena and she was not fighting, she made it her mission to know the guy without actually getting to know him.

She was studying his character.

These were dangerous times. She had to be cautious with the people she befriended.

As she watched him in the Fighting Pit, she learned a few key details. He usually sat close to important gang figures. No, he did not talk to them very often, but she noticed the respectful glances that traveled between him and people like Lightning Bolt Zolt. Whatever he did or whoever he was in this gang business, he was not just anyone. And the higher the rank, the more ruthless these mobsters were. That much she was sure of.

But she also saw the way he behaved with Bolin. He seemed like a totally different person then. Less of a serious man and looking more like a boy. There was a youth to him when he was with his brother that she found absolutely beautiful for some reason. Someone who loved his family that much could not be a criminal.

At least that was her way of justifying the fact that maybe it wasn't Mako in that office to begin with.

If it turned out to be him…

Well, she was not going to let it slip just because she was interested in him. Feelings played no role in this.

When she was sure that there was no one in the hallway, she sat cross-legged as her fists connected with the other.

Closing her eyes, she inhaled and exhaled deeply. First, she tried to relax, as her heart-beats were still quickening due to her encounter with the gang members. Another reason could have been that there was a possibility that Mako was one of the men in the office.

She cleared her mind of any worrying thoughts. Then, she allowed herself to drift away from her physical body. It was a skill she had learned from no other than Jinora and it had come in handy many times since then. It had been beyond difficult for her to grasp the technique at first, considering that spirituality had never been her forte, but after years of practicing next to the Airbender, she had finally mastered it.

After a couple of seconds had passed, she felt weightless, detached from the physical world. Matter was unimportant, as she could walk through any. There were no boundaries.

Before she left the room, she double checked to make sure that her body was concealed. Granted, anyone who walked in could easily find her if they tried hard enough. It was a risk that she had to take regardless.

She traveled swiftly through the halls of the building. They were strangely empty for an afternoon, especially if such important figures were in the City Hall. For a moment she thought that maybe the men had found what they were looking for, or at least given up, and left.

But as the less naïve part of her had expected, that was just wishful thinking.

As she arrived at the main entrance, she saw that the guards were knocked out on the floor. At least she hoped that they were just unconscious. There were also more men dressed in black than she had initially anticipated and what worried her the most was the fact that they were working so silently that they were alerting no one.

These people were not any gang members. They were trained to do something like this.

If she could get to the council room before any of the gangster did, she could warn Tenzin and the others just in time. That way, the Chief would call for backup immediately and the City Hall would be filled with police officers in no time.

She concentrated on her Airbending mentor, sensing his spiritual energy coming from somewhere in the premises. Her surroundings disappeared as she sank underground, only to appear in the already mentioned council room.

"Regarding the other candidate, it is–"

Dismissing whatever President Raiko had to say, she interrupted, "Tenzin!"

Everyone around the council table stared at her. Some, who had never witnessed a spiritual projection, were shocked and scared of her appearance. Others such as Lin and Tenzin were merely concerned since they knew what it meant.

Trouble.

"Korra, are you okay?" he expressed hurriedly, a crease decorating his forehead, "We sent Sentries to find you an hour ago!"

"The City Hall has been infiltrated. Triads," announced the Avatar. She had no time to explain any further, but she knew they were smart enough to figure out her message, "I am safe, but it seems we're outnumbered."

Without any other word, the Chief of Police turned to the officers nearby, "Call for backup, and let's get the President out of here!"

The cops assembled around Beifong to listen to her instructions. The brunette, on the other hand, remained focused on Tenzin, who seemed to be analyzing the situation.

"The guards at the main gate need your help," she informed him before promising as if reading his perturbed thoughts, "I'll find my way out. Don't worry about me."

"Korra–"

But she had already broken the connection, returning to her haven under the desk.

Without waiting any longer, she sprang into action. As she carefully opened the door, she noticed that there was smoke coming from the end of the hall, and unlike minutes earlier, there seemed to be a commotion going on.

She noticed that there was something weird about the smoke. The gas was making her feel dizzy, which was probably why the City Hall had been so quiet. It was causing the guards to fall asleep. After the realization, she quickly covered her nose with her hand.

As she turned her head, she found two officers of the Metalbending Police Force lying on the floor. She quickly pressed two fingers on each cop's wrist respectively, checking for a pulse. And when she did feel it, she released a deep breath.

Muttering a sheepish _sorry_ , she metalbent the uniform off of one of the police officers, revealing his normal-fabric uniform instead. Since she felt guilty for leaving him unprotected, she proceeded to drag the man to the adjacent room where she had first hidden.

Before adjusting the uniform, she removed her bindings. She then tied the fabric just above her nose and continued to roll it around her head until only her eyes and forehead were visible. It was the only thing she could use as a mask with such little time, not only to protect herself from the smoke, but to keep her identity a secret.

With a quick movement of her arms, she fixed the metallic armor around her body, fastening every piece into place. Finally, she added the helmet. To any observant, she looked like the typical Metalbeding officer, but if they looked close enough, they would have noticed how something was off about her appearance.

She moved in the direction of the noise, where most likely the Republic City Police was already facing the intruders. Or at least they should have been be on their way.

There was a lot of smoke. It was an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. For obvious reasons, the exposure to the smoke could make it almost impossible to remain fit during a battle. But it was also good to have the element of surprise.

As she traveled from one space to the other, she met fellow officers, who gave her brief instructions and filled her in on what was currently going on. They had realized that the smoke was a threat, so they covered their faces too. The Police was holding the attackers off. It was a tough battle but they were holding their ground. On another note, it seemed that the White Lotus was searching all around the building for the Avatar and she could not be found.

She only replied with nods and hand motions, because the moment they noticed that it was her under the uniform, they would have escorted her out of the building immediately.

And she could not leave. She did not want to leave.

She was tired of feeling like a burden and having others protect her as if she was a mere damsel in distress. She wasn't. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. If there was anything that did not change about her over the years was that she did not need anyone to carry her weight for her.

But cops were not the only people she ran into. Despite the dangers that she was facing, she could not help but feel exhilarated. She missed the action, the excitement of the battlefield.

She was unlucky, or lucky, enough to encounter a few Triad members. Sadly none of them could take a punch.

Except one.

"Hey!" a voice said from behind her in the corridor. It was a voice she had heard many times before. She turned around to face the man who had called for her, and when she did, she was welcomed by the most familiar shade of golden.

If she had had any doubt left, it was long gone. Mako was indeed a few a feet away from her in the City Hall. And as much as she did not want to hurt him, if he was there, he was no friend of hers anymore.

He was not charging at her, which surprised her. In fact, he was studying her the same way that she was studying him. His eyes were glued on hers.

What was he looking at?

Nothing seemed to be out of place. Not one single hair strand visible. Anything that could have possibly given her away was perfectly hidden.

Everything but her eyes.

But she would not give him the chance to put the pieces together.

She turned around to sprint in the opposite direction, and she knew he would follow. Were the situation any different, she would have actually laughed at his predictable behavior. But she was pissed off.

Even though she shouldn't have been surprised nor disappointed by the fact that he was a Triad member, she could not help but feel resentful towards him. How she ever actually felt attracted to him, she had no idea. Whatever feelings she had for him had already vanished.

At least she told herself so. Over and over again. She could not like him.

Kicking the door of the library open, she ran towards the back of one of the shelves. Seconds after, the Firebender entered the room. With a simple flick of her wrist, the metal retracted from her feet, allowing her soles to be in direct contact with the ground.

"Do you think you can hide forever?" the man, whose voice became more and more familiar by the second, spoke.

She could feel him moving around the library, and no matter how quiet he tried to be, the vibrations on the earth were as clear as crystal. She knew his exact location. She could even anticipate his next move.

Lifting and stomping on the floor, she caused the ground below him to shake, making him stumble. She suppressed a giggle when she heard him growl in frustration.

"Listen, I won't hurt you!" after she heard his words, she froze on the spot, letting her defenses down, "I wasn't going to before, and I won't now."

There was a sincerity in his tone that she could not ignore. Perhaps she was not the best at reading people, but if the vibrations under her feet were telling her anything, it was that the man was being honest. Obviously that skill was not as developed as she would have liked, but it still gave her some insight.

"Especially since you're a woman," continued the man in black clothes, shocking her more than she already was.

After a few seconds, she decided to speak up as well. Because even if he did not recognize any of her two identities, she was not going to be a coward in disguise. That was not the reason she borrowed the uniform in the first place.

She was very grateful for the idea of placing the bindings atop her mouth. Even though it made it uncomfortable to speak, the piece of cloth actually concealed what her true voice sounded like.

"How did you know?" was the first thing that she could say.

"I'm not as dumb as the rest," he countered sternly, and she could pinpoint some kind of anger in his tone. Not towards her, but towards his own group.

"Aren't you?"

"No," he answered as he continued to look for her behind the rows of shelves, "Your eyes are too feminine."

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't take you down," she taunted as she evaded all of his attempts to find her.

A soft laugh was heard in the empty library before he challenged, "Says the girl who is hiding behind books."

She did not like his confidence at all, as if he thought that she was weak. In his defense, he did not know who she was, otherwise he would have never tried to provoke her like that. Nevertheless, she was going to make him regret all of his words. He was going to leave the building with at least a broken bone. If the police did not catch him first.

And she did not know why, but she felt sad at the thought of him locked up.

Without hesitation, she left her hiding spot and stood in the middle of the library, while the guy was on the other side of the room.

"Use Earthbending, Metalbending, whatever you like," he shrugged as he took his fighting stance.

"I don't need bending to teach you a lesson," and then she emphasized with air quotes, "What happened to 'I won't hurt you'?"

"I still won't," promised again the Firebender, his eyes fixed on hers. And once again, she knew that he was telling the truth. It was palpable in his voice, and now that she could look at him in the eye, she was even more convinced.

Although she believed him, she would not allow him to take her by surprise. She did not lower her arms from a defense position.

Snorting, she rolled her eyes, "So you're trying to intimidate me? Good luck with that."

"I'm looking for someone," as he explained his already known motive, he took a step closer to her, "And you're helping me with that."

It was not a question, it was more of an order. Taking a step back, she said between gritted teeth, "And what makes you think I know where this person is?"

He created a small ball of fire in his hand, but she could notice that there was a hesitation in his actions. As if he really did not want to be there at all.

Playing with the fire in his hands, he started, "Because," he then paused to look at her, "You either know the location of the person I'm looking for, or you _are_ the person I'm looking for."

She felt her heart beating wildly against her chest. So hard that it was all she could listen.

"I'm guessing it's the later," he assumed completely confident, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Korra."

And a blast of fire was sent in her direction.

* * *

 **A/N: I tried to update as soon as possible because the reviews made me very happy. Notes:**

1\. This chapter was mostly meant to show how Korra is not a half baked Avatar anymore. She's older now, more skilled. Seismic sense (and even lie detection), Spiritual Projection, and some pretty smart planning on her part.

2\. Next Chapter, we'll see how things work from Mako's perspective because I am sure some interesting things are going on in his head.

 **Don't forget to leave a review with your opinion, I would really appreciate it.**

 **Thank you.**


	7. Ambivalence

_**Ambivalence**_

n. the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

* * *

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Korra."

The flames left his hands, but before they could hit her, she jumped out of the way.

The moment he had seen her, he knew that there was something extremely odd about the individual. Had she not caught his attention, he wouldn't have even considered engaging in a fight with any other Metalbending police officer. It was a waste of his time, and most importantly, that was not his job. He had received very specific orders from Zolt, as had the rest of the group, so he was not about to go out of his way unless it was completely necessary.

The logistics of the plan were simple. While the majority of the gang members were acting as a distraction, holding the police force off and whatnot, Mako was part of a much quieter operation. He had not bothered to ask more questions than needed, although there were a few. But he was glad that he was only selected for the non-violent part of the plan, in theory.

Since he was child, he had never been fond of the Republic City authorities. And in his mind, he had more than enough reasons to resent them. Nonetheless, that did not mean that he would ever intentionally hurt someone who did not attack him first.

His boss was aware of this, given the fact that the leader of the Triad had met Mako and his brother were they were young boys. There was a mutual respect between them. For said reason, very seldom was he ever sent on runs that could end up on blood.

He had yet to do something that made him reconsider his morality or who he was. He usually just ran numbers for the Triple Threats, which even though was still illegal, it did not make him feel as if he was truly a bad person. At least he was not out there terrorizing or stealing or taking lives.

But there were times when he was not so sure how to feel about it.

Being a part of a gang was not something his parents would have been proud of, but it was his life now, and it was a life he could not escape from just yet. Perhaps he did not know if there could be a better life for him at all, thus he stuck with what was safe.

"Is that the best you've got?" she spat with squinted eyes after dodging his attack.

He couldn't help but tilt his head with interest as he studied her new-found swagger. There was something familiar about it. A teasing tone despite the seriousness of the situation. He was not sure what to make of it, as she was either really bold or just plain stupid.

"Why don't you come and find out?" counter-attacked the Firebender.

In spite of the lack of illumination in the room, he could still see her every move. And yes, he was waiting for her to slip, to make the smallest mistake.

Even though there was no doubt by now that she was indeed a woman, he was not completely certain that she was actually the Avatar. She had turquoise eyes, yes, but he could not base his assumptions on an eye color. It was enough to tip him off, but that did not mean he was right.

"If I was the Avatar, then wouldn't it be a dumb move to fight me?" she seemed to really believe that he was foolish, but there was also curiosity behind her words.

She was trying to figure him out, not to scare him off, he noticed. In that second, he felt confused beyond belief. What would she get out of this? Why wouldn't she try to escape? Instead, she was looking at him as interested as he watched her.

"Who said I wanted to fight you?" he asked rhetorically. Although he had attacked her recently, it had not been his intention to hurt her. Even if she was the Avatar, he would not. His job was to find her, and if he could have a say in it, he would not touch a single hair on her head in the process.

Whatever the gangs were planning on doing with her after was out of his hands.

"Oh, I don't know," started the woman dressed in metallic plates, "Maybe the fact that you just tried to burn my face gave me the wrong impression. My bad."

He snorted at her sarcasm, "Melodramatic."

Ignoring his comment, the teasing in her voice disappeared, "How could you be so sure I'm the person you're looking for?"

"I just am," he simply said, as he did not think he owed her any explanations. Truth be told, he was not entirely sure she was Avatar Korra. But he just needed the slightest hint from her to be certain. However, if she knew of his uncertainty, she would get the upper hand.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she announced, "You're lying."

She sounded so confident about it that he was taken aback for a moment, blinking rapidly a few times. It was not a guess nor an accusation, she was stating a fact. It seemed like she could–

"You can detect lies," he was officially impressed…

… _and so screwed_.

Assuming that he was correct and she was the Avatar, then he should definitely be worried about that outcome. Apparently he was not messing with the inexperienced girl that everyone believed her to be. After all, the last time she had been seen in Republic City, she had been around 17 years old at most.

She had many years to train and learn things that he could probably not even begin to imagine.

That being said, he did not think she would be reckless enough to blow off her cover by unleashing all of the power she possessed. That was the reason he had bent fire at her, to test her. She could have easily stopped the flames, but she didn't.

And regardless of how much she needed it, she would not bend something other than earth. If she was smart enough, then he did not think she would.

It was obvious that both of them were waiting for the other to go on the offensive, as neither of them moved nor relaxed their defensive positions.

"You're wasting your time," taunted the blue-eyed woman, but her tensed muscles gave her true feelings away. She was scared to some extent.

There were loud noises coming from the corridor. Explosions, screams, fights. Whatever it was, it was impossible for them to know whose team the next person who walked in could be on. It could be his doom or hers.

"I might be," he agreed with his opponent, "But so are you."

"I will never give you the information you want," and he believed her. He could tell that she was not the kind of person to yield out of fear, otherwise she would not be here still.

As she started to circle him, he followed suit, "Perhaps you won't have that much of a choice."

"You're very confident for a man wearing a mask."

"I can take it off anytime," his voice rose venomously because he understood what she was saying. She was calling him a coward, "Can you?"

Her eyes did not betray her, remaining as neutral as ever. He had to hand it to her, she was not the person whom he had expected to encounter. After all, she was known for being impulsive and hot-headed, yet she seemed as collected as ever.

Maybe he had to dig a little deeper.

"Aren't you tired of people fighting your battles for you?" the malicious tone was obvious, and when she narrowed her cerulean eyes, he knew she noticed what he was trying to accomplish.

He heard her growl, "Are you done?" she asked in annoyance.

Their eyes were locked, the two of them attempting to decipher what was happening within the other.

"So you are actually going to drag this out until you bore me to death," although there was a playfulness in her speech, her fists were clenching.

"If you want a fight, all you have to do is give me your best shot," shrugging his shoulders, he suggested, "Unless you want your Sentries here to protect you."

A crease on her forehead appeared as she countered, "I don't need anyone's protection."

He just had to push a bit harder…

"One of them died because of you," and he did not mean for it to come out as a whisper, but he could not prevent it. The images in his head about the death he had witnessed were still haunting him. The smell and sight of burning flesh… It was something that he found himself thinking of very often.

It did not matter who the person was or what side he was on. He was still a human being who had lost his life, and suffered until the very end. All because he was simply following orders and performing duties for someone who probably did not even remember his name to begin with.

That was something he could never erase from his mind. And he blamed her for it.

She sucked in her breath sharply, complete silence consuming the room.

Her volume matched his, her voice breaking at the beginning, "The Triads did that."

"We both know that's not true," he started, no longer doing it to get a reaction out of her, but to let her know that he meant it, that she was to blame.

The defensive stance was lost in a second and her eyes slightly watered, the gloss reflecting the shame she was feeling at the moment. His posture mimicked hers as well, guilty for making a woman cry.

But he had to remember who she was and where they were.

" _You_ did that," was all he had to say for her to snap.

"Shut up," shaking her head, she released a roar of rage, "Shut up!"

The fury and passion in her eyes was unmistakable. If there had been the smallest doubt before, it was gone. She was the Avatar, alright.

Before he could even think of moving out of the way, a metal plate hit him square on the chest, sending him flying across the library. He landed on the ball of his feet, one hand supporting his weight.

When he lifted his head, he saw the armored woman running towards him, metallic daggers in her hands. He had hit a weak spot there, he realized.

She was no less than a stranger to him, so he did not know what was going through her head. Was she angry at him or at herself? It seemed like guilt and pride were her biggest issues at the moment, and not the prospect of being kidnapped.

She was ruthless and stronger than he had imagined her to be in battle, but the armor was obviously slowing her down. Even though she was fast, he could tell that she was still learning her way around the metallic uniform. He had had too many openings, too many opportunities to knock her out.

He still didn't.

Rolling out of the way, he missed her weapon by inches. The dagger was stuck on the wall like a dart, and he looked back at her only to find that her eyes still held the same anger in them.

For some reason, the same turquoise eyes sent him back the night before as he had found the dead body of a Sentry tied to a lamp post. He could not pinpoint it, but whatever she was feeling, he had seen it before.

With a spin of his body, he sent a blast of fire from the bottom of his foot. She stopped it by bending a metal table nearby, but the force of the flames pushed her a few feet back.

He wondered why to this moment she still refused to bend anything other than metal, since she knew that he already knew of her identity.

Their dance consisted of metal and fire. Attack, dodge, repeat. However, neither of them was shooting for the kill. He knew why he wasn't. It was never his intention to fatally strike her.

But why wasn't she?

Metal cables abandoned the spools on her back with a jerk of her arms, capturing his wrists in the process. She pulled him towards him, but when he kicked a fire ball in her direction, she let go of the wires to avoid getting burnt.

"What are you doing?" he asked angrily in between breaths, as he did not understand what game she was playing, "You could have ended this ages ago!"

"I could say the same thing," she exclaimed back in frustration, "I've given you enough chances to attack!"

"You want me to attack you?" he repeated taken aback.

Without meeting his eyes, she answered, "I assumed that was what you came to do."

He was not sure how to answer that, since yes, he was supposed to capture her one way or another. But for some unknown reason, he could not find it in him to finish the job. She was right, after all. She had been making it extremely easy for him. He did not doubt it for a second that she could snap his neck faster than she could say turtle-duck if she truly wanted to do so.

So again, why hadn't she? Wouldn't it make things far less complicated if the only person who had actually seen her today was out of the picture?

As he pinched the bridge of his nose, he confessed, "You assumed right."

"I don't understand," she exhaled deeply in confusion, "First you hate me, then you just… basically do nothing?"

She faced him from where she stood a few feet away, her blue eyes glued to his golden ones, as if trying to find the answer to the puzzle growing in her mind.

"Why do you hate me?" asked the cerulean-eyed girl, and she suddenly did not seem so strong. He could see the vulnerability in her, if for a second. And during that second, he forgot why he resented her, too.

There was a lot of uncertainty and guilt in her, causing him to believe that maybe she wasn't the selfish person he once thought she was.

"I–" he wanted to say that he didn't. That he did not hate her. But then he remembered what she had done, "I can't talk about the past now."

"Wait," taking a step forward, she furrowed her brows, "We met before?"

Instead of saying yes, he let his silence be the answer she was waiting for.

"I would remember if I knew you."

Arching his eyebrows, he said, "You haven't seen my face yet. How could you remember?"

For a moment, he panicked, thinking that maybe he had given something away. He also checked his mask, but it was perfectly in place. She remained immobile for a moment, also not saying a word, and he wondered what kind of secrets she was keeping in her head.

Had she figured out who he was? And if so, how?

"Then show me," she muttered when she was right in front of him.

While he debated or not to show the person he despised who he really was, he failed to notice the noises coming from the hall. What seemed like a group of people was trying to break into the library, which he had locked after getting in.

He noticed Korra remove the metal plates off of her soles only to announce, "It's the Police Force."

He knew she wasn't lying, mainly because if it had been any gang member, she would have run away. Without waiting for any other word from her, he looked around for any form of escape route he could take.

None.

So that was her plan all along. To send him to prison without getting any blood on her pretty hands. He should've known better.

When he finally looked back at her, she mouthed a quick, "I'm sorry."

As he tried to understand what she had meant, something hard hit his head.

And all he saw was black afterwards.

* * *

 **A/N: Merry Christmas and (almost) Happy New Year everyone.** I promised an update and here it is. Notes:

1\. So Korra and Mako have met before. We will learn about that in the future. But I believe that even though Mako obviously dislikes her, or he disliked anyone for that matter, he wouldn't be completely heartless to said someone.

2\. Korra is smart, she is not going to go full Avatar on a simple fight. This chapter wanted to show mostly that regardless, they did not want to hurt each other.

 **Please do not hesitate to leave a review. I want to hear your opinion on this chapter.**

 **Thank you for reading. See you on 2016!**


	8. Intuition

_**Intuition**_

n. The ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.

* * *

She had always been known for her somewhat impulsive behavior.

Sometimes it caused more trouble than it did anything else. But sometimes, and those were the times she would stick to, her impulsiveness paid off.

Now, she was not necessarily sure if what she had done was a good idea. But it had been an idea nonetheless. Anyone else would have needed to think about what to do next, as it was truly a complicated decision, but she did not. She had listened to her gut and acted on instinct.

Whether or not her actions would bring repercussions, she had no clue.

Too late to take it back now.

She knew that she would most likely regret it later on, but for some reason, she could not bring herself to turn _him_ in. As much as she wanted to think of reasons, or more like excuses, for sparing him, she could come up with none. At least not rational ones.

Call it a hunch, call it a feeling. She had followed it anyway.

It turned out, not that she had expected any differently, that it was very complicated to set her actual plans into motion. If she could call 'winging it' a plan at all.

As she looked out of her bedroom window, her eyes were met by the sight of two White Lotus sentries, and a few others around the garden, guarding the perimeter. She shook her head.

Any observer would have thought that they were posted there to protect her from intruders. In fact, the guards probably believed it as well. But she knew better. They were not there to prevent someone from breaking in, but to prevent her from breaking out.

Beifong and other authorities were not naïve. Even though they did not have any proof that the brunette had left the Sato mansion, the suspicion was already brewing in their minds.

Pulling her hair together, she tied it securely in a short ponytail. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she noticed only black covering her body. If she were to be completely frank, it was not really necessary to wear only black. Any clothes she wore would not give her away, but she could never be too careful.

As a final touch, she proceeded to place a mask on top of her head, which she had conveniently found somewhere in the property.

She had to hand it to the Sato girl. There was definitely more to the Raven-haired girl than met the eye. When Korra had looked through the countless drawers and closets, she had found a wide variety of things she had never expected to see among Asami's belongings.

Sure, there were the typical ones, such as makeup and gowns and whatnot. However, those were not the objects that had caught her attention. The most impressive ones were the racing related things. Helmets, gloves, suits, masks, and even gadgets.

Although the father had manufactured Satomobiles, it was not a must for the girl to have such things in her room just for that reason. It was obvious that she had an interest, a passion, even. She was apparently not the shallow woman that the Avatar had taken her for.

Making her way through the corridors of the mansion, she walked until she found a room in a distant corner. As she neared the window, she noticed the sentries in the distance who would eventually find their way towards the place she was trying to jump off of.

The Sato estate might not seem like the best place to hide the Avatar in, as it had its disadvantages, but its pros actually surpassed its cons. The downside was obviously the fact that it was incredibly easy to sneak out, due to its tremendous size. But even that could also be considered as a perk, because in the instance that the mansion were to be infiltrated, she would have more than enough room and time to escape unnoticed.

It was also a good place for her to practice her bending without caring about being seen by anyone. The location being the greatest advantage.

Without wasting any more time, she stepped out of the window, airbending her way down to prevent a horrid landing.

* * *

The City Hall looked more deserted than she had expected. After the attack, authorities and workers were ordered to leave the facility for the rest of the day by none other than the Chief of Police, as the place was to be searched for investigations. People did not complain nor refuse, as most of them were shaken up by the incident.

It was also the middle of the night, the place was meant to be mostly empty. Nonetheless, she had to be quiet, since police officers were probably roaming around still. Even though it seemed like it, she knew for a fact that she was not alone in the building. The important offices were most likely being guarded.

The library, however, was another story.

She did not just waltz in, but being an Airbender helped speed up the process of sneaking into a building.

Her feet were light, leaving no trace and making no sound as she walked through the rows of shelves. On the other end of the library, she stopped in front of a door.

Pressing her back against the wall, she stretched her leg to push down the handle. The door opened slowly with a creak but she remained immobile. Even though she was doing something remarkably stupid, she still had to manage to do it in the safest way possible.

After waiting a few seconds in order to make sure that she was not going to get her face blasted off with fire, her head appeared through the door.

The storage room seemed untouched, but that was not the only factor that made her feel uneasy. She walked in, her eyes moving warily from left to right, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"Took you long enough," an annoyed voice surfaced from her left. Embarrassingly enough, she couldn't stop herself from releasing a yelp, "Easy, now."

As she turned in his direction, she narrowed her eyes at his mocking comment, "I didn't expect you to be here still."

He gestured to his hands, which were securely attached to an adjacent metal table, "I can't really carry a table without being noticed, can I?"

The irritation in his voice was palpable, possibly caused by hours of stress and anxiety. She could not blame him, but she did not care either.

"How could you be so certain I was coming back?" she inquired, arching her eyebrows.

"Because you went through some trouble to bring me here," as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, he answered, "Which means there must be something you want."

As much as she wanted to say he was wrong, she knew his first statement was far from false. It had been difficult for her to cover for him.

The moment he had been distracted by the sudden appearance of the police force, Korra had knocked him out. Sure, she could have been less aggressive, but the limited time did not allow her to do so. Then, she had basically airbent him across the room, which surely must have hurt and left some bruises.

Luckily, the officers had not bothered to look around for anything in that particular moment, as she assured them that she was okay and they were needed elsewhere. She was immediately escorted back to Beifong.

The Chief had ordered the White Lotus to take her back to the mansion so that they could clear everything up. Nevertheless, the Avatar had suggested that it was safer to stay where she was, until the Chief herself could take her back to the Sato Residence. For all they knew, mobsters could be outside waiting for them to leave a trail.

Just as she had hoped, Lin had agreed with her, allowing her to stay under her watch for a little while longer.

If only the Chief had known what her true intentions were…

Then she would have been in a lot of trouble. Because although there were a lot of issues consuming her thoughts, one specific matter was taking over her mind.

It was about _him_.

Whether it was guilt or something else propelling her actions, she could not pinpoint it. That being said, she knew that she had nothing to feel guilty about, since he was the one who wanted to capture her to begin with. He invaded her territory. She should have felt nothing for him but loathing.

Yet, she was hurrying through the halls, after excusing herself to go to the restroom, just to check up on him.

She would never admit it to him or anyone else, but she did panic when she had found him on the floor, unresponsive.

In fact, there were many things about that moment that she would never, ever tell anyone.

Especially the part about healing a gang member's wound.

To be fair, she had been the one who had injured him, so it felt like it was her duty. But the moment she took his mask off, she could not help but dwell on how peaceful and young he looked. Despite the bruises that adorned his face, she could not stop herself from thinking that he was indeed a beautiful man. Even more so than she had thought when she had met first him.

Yes, she would most definitely keep that secret to herself.

"Don't praise yourself," hissed the brunette as she crossed her arms across her chest, "I don't need anything from _you_."

He raised a surprised eyebrow at her answer, completely ignoring the arrogance that seemed to radiate off the girl, "So you're just naturally good-hearted."

"Yes."

With a scoff, he answered, "Get on with whatever it is that you're here for," he motioned with his head.

"You're a Gang member," began the blue-eyed woman.

"No kidding," his golden eyes rolled.

"You're not a good one, then. Otherwise you would have at least attempted to finish your job, and perhaps you wouldn't be here."

She would have expected him to defend himself or snort at her comment, but he didn't. He kept his chin up, unable to remove his eyes from hers. It seemed like there was something in them that she had to decipher, but she did not know what it was.

Never would have she thought that he would say, "You're right."

Nodding at him, she proceeded to sit cross-legged across the room, "What gang are you in?"

As he narrowed his eyes at her, he spat, "Just because I owe you somehow, doesn't mean that I'm going to have a change of heart and start babbling about my life."

"I didn't think you would," she admitted, stopping the corners of her mouth from tugging upwards, "After all, I can find out things about you without your help."

His brows knitted together for a second, before returning to its indifferent position, "Then I don't see the point of me being here, since you already have all the answers."

"I might be able to get all the answers, but I'm pretty sure you have questions."

"I do," he said with a bow, "For instance, did you know I know you're bluffing?"

This time, she could not prevent the chuckle that left her lips, "Fair enough."

"It doesn't change the fact that I won't talk," he pointed to his cuffed hands with a move of his head, "Do you mind?"

"I mind."

He rolled his eyes once more, "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so yesterday. And on top of that, I would not attack the Avatar when I'm exhausted and with a throbbing pain in my head."

"Sorry about the blow," she said, pressing her lips in a thin line.

"I don't believe you're sorry at all."

Not knowing how to answer that, she remained silent. She debated which answer was worse. To be or not to be sorry. However, she was more scared of the fact that she felt bad indeed. She definitely did not feel a hint of remorse towards the other mobsters that the hurt the day before.

Why would _he_ be any different?

"And I believe you have a wrong idea of who I am," her voice came out as a whisper, but she knew he had heard her.

"I just know what I've seen," he countered with a volume that matched hers. The severe look in his eyes told her that he would not discuss whatever it was that he had seen related to her.

"Who is it that you think I am, then?"

"I don't know too much about you," he admitted sincerely, "I know you have brown hair and blue eyes."

She snorted, "Congratulations! You just described most of the population of the Water Tribes."

The moment his laugh filled the room, she felt somewhat warm inside, causing a smile to invade her features.

"I also heard you were impatient–" he started before being interrupted by the smiling woman.

"Hey! It's not my fault I like things done quickly," she interjected.

The Firebender continued, paying no regard to her interruption, "Stubborn–"

"Well, that is kind of–"

"Hot-headed–"

"I am not!" complained the brunette with an offended yell.

"Aggressive–"

"Who told you all of these things?!"

"And just borderline insane," a smirk spread on his face, as he finished his, as much as she hated to admit it, accurate description.

With a pout on her lips, she fumed, "You described the seventeen-year-old Korra."

"What is the difference between the seventeen-year-old Korra and, well, you?" challenged the black-haired man.

She pretended to think about it, "Well, I'm not really _that_ aggressive anymore."

In spite of how annoyed she currently felt, she could not help but laugh along with him. They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, at least to her. He sighed, resting his head against the wall, before wincing. As a reaction, his hand flew to the back of his head.

Korra remembered how little time she'd had when she had attempted to heal him earlier, therefore making the healing not as effective as it could have been.

As she stood up, he eyed her cautiously, "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so yesterday," she repeated his exact words. He relaxed slightly, but his eyes were glued on her.

When she knelt next to him, he tensed up again. She paid no attention to that, because in reality, she was tense as well, for some reason.

The proximity had a certain effect on her and she cursed inwards, because she shouldn't have felt nervous at all. She excelled at this, at least most of the time, so there was no reason for her to feel anxious. And even though she could not speak on his behalf, she knew he felt that way, too. She could feel the rapid beatings of his heart, after all.

They both knew that regardless of the choices they had made the day before, that could easily change. They were not friends. Standing that close to each other opened a lot of opportunities for bloodshed.

So before she could regret it, she bent the water from a cup she had used earlier, and pressed it against his head. A hiss transformed into a soft moan, as the liquid began to glow.

"Why are you doing all of this?" curiosity came out as a murmur.

"To be honest," she started with a sigh as she continued to heal his wound, "I don't know."

"So you would just randomly help any Gang member."

"I don't believe you're just any Gang member," her subconscious beat her to it, and she wished her hands were free to press one of them against her mouth, "I'm not a great judge of character, but I _know_ you're not a criminal."

He did not say a word for a few seconds, "You don't know me."

"But I've known people like you," countered the blue-eyed woman. When he did not answer, she changed the topic, "I did mean it when I said I was sorry for hitting you on the head."

Again, he refused to give any kind of acknowledgement to her comment. She wondered what was going on through his head. Returning the water to the cup, she stood up from the ground and move slightly away from him.

"Thank you," was all he said.

She was not sure whether he was thankful about the day before or the fact that she healed his wound now. She liked to think that it was a bit of both.

With a flick of her hand, the metal cuffs that attached him to the table fell to the floor. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I know you're not a fan of mine, for reasons that I don't know yet. But the hate in your eyes when you first saw me…" she stopped, scratching the back of her neck, "You've had more than enough chances to hurt me and you haven't. I'm not even talking about yesterday anymore. You're a Firebender. Had you wanted to, you could have tried to melt my face off with your feet right now, which were untied."

She offered him her hand to pull him off the ground, and his amber eyes darted from it and then back to her eyes.

"I don't need to judge your character anymore," finished the brunette.

Taking her hand, he allowed himself to be helped once again by the young Avatar.

As she moved towards the exit, she said without turning around, "We will talk about the past when we meet under different circumstances. The clock is ticking."

He cleared his throat before pondering, "What makes you think we'll meet again?"

"You'd be a fool to think that we won't," she left without making another sound.

And there was a sense of déjà vu that involved her suddenly leaving, and him being annoyed about it.

* * *

 **A/N:** It took me a while to update, but I hope this was worth it. Next chapter will take place out of the city hall, finally. Note:

1\. Asami's slowly making her way into the story, even if she's not there.

2\. Book 4 Korra is more understanding and sympathetic towards people (even enemies) than Book 1 Korra ever was, for obvious reasons. That is why she has some kind of soft spot for Mako here.

 **Please do leave a review with your thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you for reading!**


	9. Anxious

_**Anxious**_

 _adj._ experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

* * *

"Looking good, doll."

As soon the words reached her ears, she rolled her eyes so hard that she thought they would go to the back of her head. One of the things she had not missed at all about the Fighting Pits.

"Bite me, Tahno," she yelled at the Waterbender with shiny looking hair. Maybe a little too shiny.

As if purring, the man continued smoothly, "Someone is in a mood today."

"And if you don't want me to replace this boxing dummy with a _real_ dummy, I would recommend shutting up," threatened the blue-eyed brunette, not tearing her eyes from the object she was currently punching over and over.

She assumed that the irritating man had decided to leave, as she had failed to hear any more of his comments that involved him diminishing her as a fighter or flirting with her in any way. It would not be the best time for someone to mess with her, given the fact that she was more than ready to break a nose.

"Ouch," another person voiced behind her, "As much as I dislike the guy, he has a point."

"What point?"

Scratching the back of his neck, her friend said uncomfortably, "You have been a bit tense lately."

She turned around, arching her eyebrows at his nervousness, "You mean bitchy."

His silence was more than enough answer for her. Letting out a sigh, she returned her focus to the human-shaped punching bag. She had to admit that it was beyond obvious that she was not particularly jolly this evening. There were no strange reasons for her to be so ill-tempered, but there were indeed a lot of things on her mind that were troubling her.

Nothing had really happened in the past few days after the City Hall incident. She was merely over-analyzing anything and everything. Not that it was a bad thing. There were many questions that she had no answers to.

"Come on, Kya," it took her several minutes to catch the fact that the Earthbender was referring to her, "You can tell Bolin everything."

And in spite of the mood she was in, she could not help but laugh at his use of third-person references. As he patted the spot next to him, she gladly obliged.

"Bolin, I'm fine," she promised, giving his shoulder a squeeze, "I'm just tired. That's it."

Not necessarily a lie, she told herself. She did feel exhausted.

He looked at her as if he had not bought a single word of what she had said but did not push the subject. For that reason, she felt thankful to have a friend like him. _If_ she could consider him a friend at all.

More often than not, she found herself coming to him when in distress. And although she could not confide in him, due to obvious reasons, she always felt more at ease when she was with him. He might not be the most mature person she had ever met, but he was one of the funniest and friendliest ones for sure. He was a great friend. Or at least had the potential to be one.

If one of them was not a good friend at all, it was Korra. After all, she had been lying about most of the things that involved herself. Even though she tried to be as honest as the circumstances allowed her to, that still didn't leave much room for her to build an actual friendship with the guy. Because at least on her side, it was mostly built on lies.

"How's your brother, by the way?" she changed the topic, biting her lower lip afterwards.

No matter how torn she felt about the Firebender, she still care to some extent about his well-being. No, scratch that. She did not _care_. She was simply curious.

She most definitely did not care.

Pushing his hair back and knitting his eyebrows, he said in a hoarse tone, "I am busy tonight, Bolin. I need to focus on work."

Her laughter filled the room after listening to his Mako impersonation, which caused people around the gym to turn around and look at her. Shortly after, everyone returned to their respective training methods.

"Come to think of it," reflected the green-eyed man while tapping his chin, "Both of you are acting quite similarly."

Once again, one of her eyebrows raised, "What are you implying?"

"Have you been spending time together? Because his brooding attitude is contagious."

"Trust me," she assured as she stood up to continue hitting the dummy, "Your brother and I have no intentions of spending more time with one another than needed."

"Needed?" from the corner of her eyes, she caught the suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. It was hard to miss.

She placed her hand in front of him, "I'm going to stop you right there."

"How about I buy you a drink?" he invited with a nudge to her side, "Now, I'm not saying Mako is going to be there–"

Which meant that the Firebender would be there for sure.

"I'll pass." she disregarded his objection, "I have things to do."

"What? The fight with Tahno?" he asked in disbelief, "You can beat him up tomorrow."

"No."

"But–"

"Bolin!" she exclaimed in frustration, but he did not take her seriously with that grin on her face.

Pouting in defeat, the black-haired man crossed his arms as the Avatar burst his getting-Mako-to-date bubble.

Whatever he intended to do involving his brother couldn't have been good. However, she could not deny the fact that at some point, in the very back of her head, she did consider it would have been interesting to spend some time with the brooding Firebender. The man was attractive, as painful as it was for her to admit it. And on top of that, he seemed like he could take a punch.

After their unexpected, and unusual, meeting at the City Hall, she only confirmed her assumptions. Not only could he take a punch, but he was also quite agile. He was not like the other Triad members she had met, as he did not act purely on command. There were personal reasons behind his every move, she could tell. He was just not a simple lackey.

Regardless of what her intentions were with him, she knew that she had to get to know him. He could have a lot of information that she could easily use. It did not make her sound like a good person, but she could use him an awful lot. Maybe he could be the inside man that she was looking for.

If she needed one at all.

She just needed someone to get her in, to give her some insight. After that, she was well on her own.

"Now that I think about it," she caught the Earthbender's attention, "A drink sounds fantastic."

* * *

She had been all around the world during her training years. From the Air Temples to the remotest towns in the Earth Kingdom. From the Fire Nation Islands to the Water Tribe Tundras. Every single one of the places she had visited had their charm and were spectacular in their own ways.

Nonetheless, there was a different vibe in Republic City. That did not make it better or worse than other places, just different. It was so modern.

"What is this place?" there was a subtle tone of disgust which she tried to hide.

There were sweaty bodies walking and, much to her discomfort, bumping into her as she made her way through the establishment. Bolin smiled at her sheepishly, as if to apologize, because she probably looked horribly uncomfortable.

It wasn't that she disliked human contact. It was not like that at all. She was usually a pretty welcoming person when she was not pretending to be an Earthbender in an unknown place. It was a new environment, full of people she did not know, and as much as she did not want to judge a book by its cover, the location of the business screamed gang territory.

Which meant that she was not welcomed.

"It's a bar," answered the green-eyed friend matter-of-factly, looking at her as if she were an idiot, "People come here for drinks."

Grabbing her hand, the younger guy dragged across the place until he found a spot in a corner where they could seat undisturbed. At least in theory.

The lights were dim but illuminated the room enough for her to notice what was going around. It was evident that Bolin wanted her to relax. She could not, however, allow that to happen. To let her guard down in a closed space that she was not familiar with and, on top of that, was full with prospect enemies would be a major stupid move.

And she did not make stupid moves.

Well, at least she tried to prevent adding more to her list of stupid decisions.

"I'll be right back with that drink," he promised as he disappeared into the crowd that gathered in middle of what started to look more and more like a nightclub.

She never frequented those. The whole concept of it did sound appealing and she had never been the type of person to turn down an opportunity to have fun. Nonetheless, being the Avatar did not give her much room for wasting time. She was usually busy training or on missions.

Not unlike now.

But given that she was with someone, whom she could call her only friend, she thought that it was as good of a time as ever to allow herself to enjoy her surroundings.

The music was loud, the air thick. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves around her. She, on the other hand, was observing those who seemed to be too busy having fun.

As her eyes traveled around the wide room, they landed on a few men who looked as interested in her as she was in them. They were talking among themselves, never breaking eye contact with her. If she hadn't felt uneasy already, that did the trick.

She tried to look elsewhere, but she could feel eyes on her. Every time her gaze landed on them again, her assumption was proved correct. They were undeniably staring at her and were not bothered whatsoever by the fact that she had obviously noticed.

That only made the situation look more unsettling.

Cockiness aside, she was certain that it would not be too complicated to take the three men out. They did not look weak, but she had fought worse. Nevertheless, she knew better than to start a fight when she had no clue how outnumbered she could be.

She was far from stupid.

Plus, she doubted they would be as bold as to try something with a woman in public. Regardless of what it was that they wanted with her.

"There you go," she exhaled as soon as her friend placed two glasses on the high bar table that she was currently occupying, "Are you okay? You seem shaken up."

Turning around to explain what had happened, she noticed that the men had already left.

As she replied to her friend, she ran a hand through her brunette hair, "It's nothing. I've got a lot of things on my mind."

"Then this thing is what you need," Bolin slid the glass, which held a green liquid, towards her side of the table, "It will make you forget whatever is on your mind."

He raised the glass, motioning for her to do the same. As soon as their glasses made contact with one another, the couple brought them to their lips.

Korra did not let it pass her throat.

* * *

Later on that night, when everyone seemed to be as drunk as Bolin was, she concluded that whatever security there was, it would be too busy controlling the intoxicated people to notice her.

She had never been to that bar, nor did she plan on returning, but she knew that if it was a Triad territory, she should be able to find something in it.

As she made her way to the back of the establishment, bumping into several wasted individuals in the process, she noticed a set of stairs leading to Spirits-knew-where.

There were more than enough reasons for her not to climb up the stairs, but at the same time, nothing too bad could happen.

It was just another thing to add to her list of bad decisions.

When she reached the top, she found herself in a wide corridor full of doors. Good news was that there seemed to be no one to question her intentions for being there. Bad news, it wasn't like she could just walk into any random room when she did not know what awaited in there.

She moved swiftly and quietly around the corridor, pressing her ear against doors to check if she could hear anything. It was difficult, since the music in the club was already too loud, but she tried her best to listen. When there was no sound coming from them, she would attempt to open them.

To no avail. They were all locked so far.

The moment she reached the door at the end of the hallway, she heard voices inside, immediately attracting her attention. She could not recognize any of them. Not that she had expected any differently, considering that she was not familiar with Triad Members.

However, she was more interested in _what_ was said, not who said what.

Among the masculine voices inside the room, she could pick out a single female one. Quiet, yet strong enough to silence the men.

Korra was concentrating on the sound of her voice, trying to make out the words, when someone grabbed her hands from behind, pressing her harshly against the door.

"Someone likes to eavesdrop, doesn't she?" the person said in her ear, causing her to wince.

Tilting her head to the left, she saw the man who was holding her from the corner of her eye.

It was one of the guys who was observing her earlier. Brown hair, blue eyes, dressed in blue and white. Yes, she was certain that he had been staring at her. It was useless for her to find an excuse now, as she was found listening through a door.

"Who do you work for?" he hissed close to her, holding her hands tighter, "I knew you looked suspicious."

"I don't work for anyone," she spat back, trying to jerk her way out of the grip.

"Why is it that I don't believe you?" he asked rhetorically with a threatening laugh, "I'm going to ask you one more time. Who do you work for?"

"Are you stupid? Didn't you hear me the first time?" she said angrily, "I don't work for anyone!"

Thanks to her audacity, the man behind her banged her head against the nearest wall out of annoyance. It was hard enough for her to lose her coolness for a few seconds, but not hard enough to knock her unconscious.

"Then maybe you can work for me," he whispered softly in her ear, more or less causing her to want to throw up or push him off a window.

Without further indication, he started to stroke her arm. In that second, she laughed inwardly, knowing that she was definitely going to push him off a window.

Before he could even attempt to raise the pervert level, and before she could actually elbow him in the stomach, someone spoke from the door she had been initially pressing against.

"What is it that you think you're doing, Shin?"

"None of your business, Mako."

She took the opportunity to strike as the Firebender, whom she knew so well and so little at the same time, captured Shin's attention. She yanked free from his hands, pressing her own against a specific point on his back.

With no more than a push of her thumb, the man collapsed to the floor, immobile.

"You little bi–" and before he could finish, she pushed one her wrist bindings into his mouth, silencing him.

The Firebender's eyes were wide as he spoke, "You're a chi-blocker."

Nodding, she moved towards him, "A lot of people are."

"Are you okay?" he asked her, pointing at the paralyzed person on the floor.

"Don't worry about me," she shrugged her shoulders with a smile, "If I were you, I would be worried about him. I'm not a damsel in distress."

"I know you're not," agreed the golden-eyed man with a smirk that matched hers.

There was some kind of message traveling between the two of them. As she looked into his eyes, eyes that she felt like she could draw from memory, her whole body felt like it would shut down. And for a moment, she thought that maybe someone had chi-blocked her.

But she knew it was only the stupid girl in her talking. The surprising thing was not that she had those thoughts, but that she did not mind them.

And even though she should have seen him as a Triad member, as someone she should avoid, she found herself not minding that either. In this precise moment, he was just Mako to her.

Perhaps that is why and how she ended up placing her hand on his cheek while leaning in.

She knew more than anyone how stupid it was for her to do something like that. But then again, she could just add it to the list of stupid decisions she had made in her lifetime.

And maybe, just maybe, writing his name on that list would make it a list that could bring her some kind of happiness.

He seemed to be having his own panicked thoughts, as his Adam's apple moved up and down, and his eyes were as wide as ever. Nevertheless, he did not back away, nor did he tear his amber eyes away from her blue ones.

Just as the distance was about to be closed, another door opened, causing the two of them to jump away from each other.

"This is kind of an unfortunate interruption," the Avatar could _hear_ the grin in the female voice she had listened to earlier, "But I've been _dying_ to talk to you."

"What do you want now, Asami?" asked an irritated Mako.

"Not you," corrected the raven-haired beauty, " _Her_."

* * *

 **A/N: I know I usually don't update twice in a row in the same story but I had to update as quick as possible because the reviews encouraged me.** A few notes:

1\. The Tahno/Korra fight will happen eventually.

2\. The men watching Korra were Shady Shin, Two Toed Ping and Viper. The first one being the one harassing Korra. This chapter was an opening to how the gang night life works and so on, with meetings happening in the clubs themselves (which is what Asami was doing there).

3\. Korra in this story is kind of a fully-realized Avatar, as I've said before. She has always been a talented bender, why not a talented chi-blocker?

 **Please leave a review with your thoughts. Thank you!**


	10. Ahead

**A/N:** I blinked a couple of times and suddenly, it was 2017 already. I can't express how sorry I am, but life gets very busy. I had forgotten how much fun it was to write this story.

I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

 ** _Ahead_**

adv. further forward in space; in the line of one's forward motion. in the lead.

* * *

"She was not there," his calm exterior was, unknown to the people around him, accompanied by the fidgeting of his hands behind his back.

The gang members, along with their leader, Lightning Bolt Zolt, observed him quietly as they studied him. Mako understood why they were skeptical, as he had disappeared for a couple of days after the incident. However, he knew they would not question his honesty, but it was evident that something did happen.

Rubbing his chin, the gray-haired leader commanded, "Walk us through the business."

If someone had paid enough attention, they would have noticed that he was not as cool at the moment as he portrayed himself to be. There were clear signs of nervousness and he was completely aware of it. Nonetheless, the more he tried to control it, the more obvious it would become to the others. He could not give a single piece of information away. The repercussions would be catastrophic.

But not for him.

So why was he willing to go through all of that trouble, when those consequences would not affect him negatively? He was carrying a burden that did not belong to him. He was taking the blow for someone who did not even know his name. There was no one important enough for him to put his life, and especially his brother's, at risk. And he scolded himself for unconsciously believing that _she_ could be any different.

He told himself that he was doing this because he owed her. After all, she had saved his life even when she knew what he and his group intended to do at the City Hall. The Avatar had spared him, regardless of his intentions, his origins and his actions. Without asking for mercy, not that he would have ever done that, she had granted it to him.

He was not sure whether that had been unbelievably noble or extremely stupid.

Now, he did not underestimate her for a second. The true objective behind her aid remained a secret still, as he had learned throughout his life that people did not go out of their ways to help someone else out of the goodness of their hearts. Yet, his own was telling him that perhaps that was the reason she was more than _enough_.

But those dangerous thoughts about the Avatar would stay buried in the very back of his head, and he would pretend that they had never met _again_. Because that was exactly what he was going to tell the Triple Threats: absolutely nothing. As far as he was concerned, Korra had not been in the City Hall the day of their attack.

So he filled them with a tale full of lies, knowing that meant an immediate treachery. What he was hiding from them was the only thing they wanted, and if they were to find out he was, it was certain that someone would pay. He only hoped that if the truth were to come out, that they would go for him and not his brother.

"–and after the sentries injured me, I barely managed to knock them out and escape," his voice did not rise or drop, it was as indifferent as he needed it to be, "I was outnumbered, but the gas weakened them."

He did not add too many details, as he did not want to sound suspicious. But too many eyes were on him, the smallest hint that he was not telling the truth and he would be in a lot of trouble.

"If you got out, then why did you not report?" Viper, a Waterbender he despised, asked with squinted eyes. They had never trusted each other, so naturally he was the one to raise accusations.

That peaked the other gangsters' interest, but the Firebender quickly replied with annoyance, "Well, I can gladly break your skull open and see if you're heading to work right after."

Before a fight between the two of them could start, the Triad leader intervened, "Enough, Viper. His brother already corroborated that Mako was at home," he then turned to the young Firebender, "You may go, my boy."

With a bow, he exited the office. There was no doubt that Zolt would believe him. He had never given the old leader any reasons to distrust him. But he could never be too careful, since he never knew what _vipers_ were hissing in the boss' ears.

Just outside of the room, there was a spacious lounge were the mobsters met on a daily basis. Tonight was, however, a busy night, so the place was not as full as usual. High or low on the ranks, there was work to be done, particularly after the happenings during that week. The mess would not clean itself and the gangster would not get out of jail by themselves. With the Republic City Police on alert, that mess was bigger than ever.

As he was about to leave the premises and search for his brother, who was surely in the bar downstairs, he felt eyes on him. He turned around, his golden eyes landing on a pair of light green ones that were observing him across the room.

She looked as beautiful and regal as always, with her shiny black hair that reach her waist. Surely, she could captivate any man that laid eyes on her. Nevertheless, he was not one of those men anymore. At some point, he had been enchanted by everything she was, but those days were long gone.

Still, he was interested in her. Not romantically, not physically. He paid close attention to her visits to the Triads, as they were becoming more and more frequent. Undoubtedly it had something to do with business and that is what he wanted to find out. What was the daughter of a former equalist doing involved with the Triple Threats?

If he knew Asami, and he liked to think that he did, she was up to something. When they were together, she had privately voiced her hate towards the gangs, even after knowing that he was part of one. But despite the hate, if she needed power or money, the Triads were known to have both.

They locked eyes for a few seconds, as she was engaged in conversation with other mobsters, but after he heard noise from outside of the door, he broke their connection.

Opening and closing the door behind him, he encountered a view that caused his blood to boil.

A woman was pinned against the wall not too far away from him. Her arms were bent behind her back, as a man hovered behind her. It did not matter who the girl was, he would have been just as disgusted. But when he realized her identity, he became furious.

His fists clenched as he made his presence known, "What is it that you think you're doing, Shin?"

"None of your business, Mako," the Earthbender spat as he looked at the younger Triad member.

Before the golden-eyed man could beat the spirits out of the other gang member, the girl had broken free. In a matter of seconds and a single move of her hand, her assaulter was already collapsing to the floor.

"You little bi–" the man on the ground began but Kya shoved her wrist bindings into his mouth. Now, he was unable to move _and_ speak.

Mako opened his mouth, with his eyes open wide in surprise, "You're a chi-blocker," Call him impressed.

Nodding, she moved towards him, "A lot of people are."

"Are you okay?" As he pointed at the immobile Shady Shin, he asked softly. After what had just happened, it was normal for her to be upset and for him to be concerned.

"Don't worry about me," she shrugged her shoulders with a smile, "If I were you, I would be worried about him. I'm not a damsel in distress."

"I know you're not," he could not prevent the grin that invaded his face as he heard her confidence.

Looking into her bright blue eyes that showed no fear, he knew just how screwed he was. She was definitely something that he had never seen before. It was her fire, her courage, her strength. Everything about her drew him towards her, against his several attempts to stay away. He just couldn't.

The closer she was, the more he was able to memorize her features. And he enjoyed that more than he thought he would. Her brown hair, which was growing fast, curled slightly at the tips.

Only a few centimeters, and he would finally find out what it would be like to kiss her. Her lips looked soft, her blue eyes–

Her eyes!

There was something familiar about her eyes. Every second he looked at them, it became more evident. He had seen those eyes before.

But where?

Had the door not opened, they would have probably closed the gap. He did not know whether he was relieved or disappointed that they moved away from each other as if nothing had occurred.

The black-haired intruder crossed her arms over her chest with a taunting grin that caused his cheeks to redden. He could only imagine what was going through the Sato Heiress' mind and he had a feeling he would not like to know more.

"This is kind of an unfortunate interruption," the business woman spoke when none of them did. Granted, the two benders could not even look at each other. "But I've been _dying_ to talk to you."

A grunt of exasperation left his lips before asking, "What do you want now, Asami?"

It had not been his intention to sound as irritated as he did. The two of them had history, but they still had a friendship. If he were completely honest with himself, he would have admitted he was annoyed because the previous moment was interrupted. And yes, he would blame Asami for that.

"Not you," as the nonbender pointed at the short-haired woman, she corrected " _Her_."

Kya blinked repeatedly, apparently taken aback by what she had just heard. A million thoughts ran through his head as he tried to figure out what his ex-girlfriend would want from the Earthbender. He was not even sure they knew each other, and by the look on the blue-eyed girl's face, his assumption was spot on.

He moved in front of Asami, his eyebrows furrowing as he quietly asked, "What do you want with her?"

"I think it's a mutual interest," answered confidently the green-eyed woman.

"Don't drag her into this," he threatened, still merely loud enough for her to hear.

"You know," her mouth opened and closed, as if not knowing what to say, before finally telling him, "After the City Hall incident, I was worried so went to check up on you at your place. You were not there," she looked at him intensely and placed a kiss on his cheek. She murmured close to his ear, "Be careful."

His mind traveled to his recent conversation with the Triple Threats, as he had assured them that he had been at home after the raid. It was a secret that he had to guard at all costs, one that he had to pull Bolin into as well. But his brother only knew enough for their stories to coincide and the fake alibi to work. The less he knew, the better.

Only two people knew about the true events of that day.

Now it seemed like he had a complication, again. He was certain that Asami would not disclose that information to anyone. Even if they were not as close anymore, they cared for one another. She was as loyal to their friendship as he was. The issue laid on who else knew what his friend had so easily figured out. There could be more people who could put two and two together, and this time, maybe it would not be a friend.

He had to watch his back if he did not want a knife finding its way to it.

"Shall we?" the black-haired woman motioned for the brunette to follow, and to his surprise, she did.

Beyond his understanding, the blue-eyed Earthbender obliged to Asami's invitation. He was puzzled, but knew better than to intervene. They were both grown women. And if there was something he was sure of, especially after tonight, was the fact that neither of them needed his or anyone's protecting.

* * *

Asami started the engine of her tinted-windowed Satomobile, before placing her right hand on the gear. The other woman on the passenger seat waited quietly for the machine to start moving.

"I don't think we know each other," the driver began with a gentle tone, before chuckling, "At least not personally."

Korra still had to be careful. Once more, she was doing something ridiculously idiotic that could get her in more trouble that she could manage to get out of. She was in a ride that could literally end in her death. No, she did not believe the other girl could fatally strike her. But if the stories she had heard about the Future Industries Chief were true, then she would at least escape with a couple of scars.

Saying nothing, she simply focused on the road, looking at Asami out of the corner of her eye every so often. She was curious about the reasons behind the driver's sudden interest in her, if it was sudden at all. Nevertheless, the Avatar was interested as well.

Beifong herself had, after all, suggested the Sato girl as their inside man. The brunette merely wanted to know why she was so special. She would have definitely never been her first choice. Daughter of a former equalist, whom Korra had sent to jail, involved with the Thriads– It did not scream loyalty to the Avatar.

While she was undercover, she had the element of surprise. That meant she was one step ahead of the green-eyed woman, and she was going to take that to her advantage.

"I know close to nothing about you," the one on the wheel continued after a few minutes with the one-sided conversation, "But I have the feeling that you know plenty about me."

The brunette shrugged her shoulders, "I've heard a few things."

She heard the chuckle again, "Yet, you agreed to follow me."

"Well, Satomobile murder does not sound like your modus operandi," the two laughed at her joke, as the Avatar's eyebrows began to knit, "Where are we going, by the way?"

"Nowhere dangerous, I promise," the other girl said with what Korra thought was sincerity.

Although she had more than enough motives to distrust the black-haired woman, she found herself willing to do the exact opposite. The trust was not well founded, since she could not detect anything on a moving Satomobile, but call it a hunch. Her instincts were telling her that Asami was not an enemy.

"So why am I here?" she addressed the elephant in the room.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Whether or not it had been the driver's intention to test her patience, she was starting to do so, "I'd rather not have you answering questions with more questions."

A side-smile appeared on Asami's face, "Fair enough," she said in defeat, "You can put quite a show. At the Fighting Pits, I mean."

"What is your point?"

"The way you fight– It's impressive," the green-eyed woman complimented with raised eyebrows, "I had never seen something like that. But I'm not the only one that has noticed. The Triads have noticed, too. And trust me, you want to stay out of their radar."

"Am I supposed to believe all of this–" she motioned the two of them, representing their conversation, "Is because you wanted to look out for me?"

The Future Industries Chief shook her head, "The talent that you have. They will want to use it."

"Don't you want to use it, too?" the blue-eyed girl voiced her accusation, "I'm assuming that is the reason I'm here."

"You can't remain neutral forever. I tried," Asami told her, releasing a long sigh, "At some point, you will have to choose a side before you don't have the luxury of choosing anymore. Why not pick the right one?"

Korra snorted, not showing that the previous statement had indeed shaken her slightly on the inside, "So, you're saying your side is the right one."

"No. But I'm sure we can benefit from one another."

Immediately, the cerulean-eyed woman crossed her arms above her chest, "I don't work for anyone."

The one behind the wheel corrected her, "I don't want you to work _for_ me, but _with_ me."

The Avatar engaged in thought for a moment. Perhaps this was the opportunity she had been waiting for. With Asami's help, she could easily infiltrate the Triads without putting herself at risk. The woman had contacts, and subsequently, information. That was something that the brunette needed.

If she wanted someone on the inside, well, now it was on a silver platter.

Her only worry was that it would be a give _and_ take relationship. She knew what she wanted to take, but at what cost? What was it that Asami wanted her to give?

The Satomobile came to a halt and the business woman held out her hand for the other to shake. Her blue eyes darted from Asami's hand to her face, as she contemplated her decision. She was certain that there was a price to pay, but she had a lot to win from their two-end deal.

"Will this stay between us?" she asked, thinking mostly of a certain pair of brothers.

The green-eyed woman flashed her a genuine smile, before answering, "For as long as you want it to be."

Just then, Korra extended her arm and shook the other's hand.

"We will meet soon," Asami promised, as the brunette stepped out of the vehicle. As she drove away, the Avatar's mouth hung open when she looked into the distance. She could feel the color leave her skin as her heart beat accelerated.

Not too far in front of her was the Sato Mansion.

It seemed that Asami had been two steps ahead of her all along.

* * *

 **A/N:** From this point on, the (many) questions will be answered. I have a lot of exciting plans for this story. As for The Light Within, I need to pick up where I left off, it's a lot of chapters that I have to re-read. Notes:

1\. This story will not turn into a love triangle. Mako and Asami are friends. As for Asami and Korra, they will have an interesting relationship, but not romantically.

2\. So Mako is finally figuring out the Kya/Korra resemblance. At least a bit, but not quite yet.

I would love to hear your thoughts, theories and opinions regarding this chapter. What do you think Asami wants, or what the triads want from Korra?

Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a review!


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